[Cath Cauc] Church Leaders Mostly Silent In Face of Rulings Against Alfie Evans, Vincent Lambert

National Catholic Register ^ | April 14, 2018 | Edward Pentin

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As the parents of two year old Alfie Evans battle to save their son’s life in the face of hospital and state rulings to turn off his life support, a hospital in France has ordered the removal of food and water from a 42 year old patient who has been severely disabled for 10 years.

The Sebastopol Hospital in Reims ruled on Monday that ordinary means of life support be removed from patient Vincent Lambert on April 19.

Vincent suffered severe head injuries in an automobile accident in 2008 that left him a quadriplegic, but other doctors and his parents insist he is not sick, nor in a coma, breathes unassisted, and his internal organs function normally.

Despite this, the hospital ruled that continuing to feed and hydrate him constituted “unreasonable obstinacy” towards the disabled patient.

Church teaching allows for the removal of “aggressive medical treatment” but only when it is considered futile or overly burdensome, and for terminally ill patients. Nutrition and hydration are considered “ordinary” and not “extraordinary” means and so are part of normal care; withholding them is therefore considered passive euthanasia, leaving the person to die of starvation.

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The Church’s Silence

Significant in both the Vincent Lambert and Alfie Evans cases is the unusual silence of Church leaders.

Although the Pope sent a tweet in support of Alfie, there has been no comment from either English and French bishops, nor any recent statements from the Pontifical Academy for Life.

When academy president Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia did comment on the Alfie Evans case in February, he sided with the judge against Alfie’s parents (his comments, given in a newspaper interview, have since been removed).

The general silence is despite representations made by Alfie’s father, Tom Evans, to both the apostolic nuncio in Britain, and Evans' local bishop, Archbishop Malcolm McMahon.

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Vatican Academy for Life president sides with judge in Alfie Evans case

Catholic mother says Vatican Archbishop should be fired for justifying ‘killing’ of Alfie Evans

[Mrs. Don-o]

Palliative care, including with nutrition/hydration, isn''t even financially burdensome. I read somewhere that the nutritional formula is about $7/day (this was a couple of years ago) or, say, as much as you might pay for a couple meals at Mickey D's.

The parents have even offer to care for him at home and free up the hospital bed. But the haughty "authorities" and him dead. As in the case of young Alfie Evans: the State Owns His Body.

And Archbishop Paglia? Pray that this Judas priest will not die in his depravity.