Edited by
CHRISTOPHER TOLLEFSEN

2008

THE NEW CATHOLIC DEBATE

Pope John Paul II surprised much of the medical world in 2004 with his strongly worded statement insisting that patients in a persistent vegetative state should be provided nutrition and hydration (John Paul II, 2004).While many Catholic bioethicists defended the Pope’s claim that the life of all human beings, even those in a persistent vegetative state or a coma, was worth protecting, others argued that the Pope’s position marked a shift from the traditional Catholic teaching on the withdrawal of medical treatment at the end of life.