Symposium on Palliative Care promotes human dignity at end of life

By Christopher Wells

The Vatican’s Pontifical Academy for Life is joining with the Conference of Canadian Catholic Bishops to promote “Towards a Narrative of Hope: An International Interfaith Symposium on Palliative Care.”

Promoting human dignity at the end of life

“This Interfaith Symposium is an occasion for us to identify the importance of palliative care, especially in promoting the dignity of the human person in times of illness and at the end of life,” says Bishop William McGrattan, the president of the Canadian Bishops’ Conference in a video introducing the Symposium.

The Catechism notes that palliative care – aimed at accompanying those who are facing life-threatening illness or injury – is “a special form of disinterested charity” that should be encouraged.

The two-day conference will feature opening remarks by Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, the president of the Pontifical Academy of Life, as well as an opening address on “Hope and the concrete reality of palliative care,” by Dr Moira McQueen, the Director of the Canadian Catholic Bioethics Institute.  

Concrete actions and plans for the future

Medical professionals including doctors, palliative care nurses, and ethicists, from around the world and from various faith traditions will consider the global landscape of palliative care; the role of faith and civil society; and palliative care as a form of witness.

“Along with many experts from theological, ethical, medical and pastoral contexts,” Bishop McGrattan explains, “our priority will be to focus on translating insights and discussions into concrete actions and planning for the future.”

The sanctity and dignity of all human life

Bishop McGrattan affirms, "We believe in the sanctity and dignity of all human life, from conception to natural death."

When palliative care is made available, he says, it provides "not only medical, physical, and emotional support, but more importantly, spiritual support. It is the response that our society must have in the face of euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide."

The Symposium on Palliative Care opens in Toronto, Canada, on Tuesday night, 21 May, and concludes on Thursday, 23 May.