"A judge in Britain justified his decision to remove a baby from a ventilator, against the wishes of his Catholic parents, by citing a recent controversial address given by Pope Francis.Judge Hayden then proceeded to cite Pope Francis’ November 2017 open letter to the Pontifical Academy for Life as a justification for the forced removal of Alfie’s life support. He said:
The position of the Roman Catholic Church is sometimes characterized inaccurately in cases concerning these difficult ethical issues. Mr Mylonas’s document is an open letter, by His Holiness Pope Francis to the President of the Pontifical Academy for Life, dated November 2017. In his message Pope Francis called for “greater wisdom” in striking a balance between medical efforts to prolong life and the responsible decision to withhold treatment when death becomes inevitable. His letter identifies that not adopting or suspending disproportionate measures can avoid over-zealous treatment. I would not presume to add any gloss to the following extracts...
The relevant portion of Pope Francis’ letter, which was used by Judge Hayden to justify his conclusion, speaks of the moral permissiveness for withdrawing treatment for the dignity of the patient." LifesiteRevelation 13:3
