The stance is outlined in a new document published by the Pontifical Academy for Life (PAV).

The text, titled "Small Lexicon on End of Life", indicates a slight departure from the Church's previous position.

However, it still reaffirms its opposition to euthanasia and assisted suicide.

This new publication reflects the Vatican's evolving perspective on "aggressive treatment" in end-of-life care, particularly concerning the moral obligation to provide artificial nutrition and hydration.

The text acknowledges the complexity of determining when food and hydration, typically administered through medical technology, may no longer be considered obligatory.

In the 88-page document, the PAV reiterates the need to avoid "disproportionate interventions".

It highlights the importance of considering the overall well-being of the patient rather than focusing solely on sustaining biological functions.

According to an introduction by Italian Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia (pictured), president of the PAV, the volume has the aim of "reducing at least that component of disagreement that depends on an imprecise use of the notions implied in speech".

Moral duty to provide food and water

The document refers to past Vatican teachings including the 2020 letter Samaritanus Bonus and the 2024 declaration Dignitas Infinita. These teachings highlight the importance of avoiding aggressive treatments that may not truly help the patient.

The volume noted that the food and hydration prepared for vegetative patients are prepared in a laboratory and administered through technology, and thus do not amount to "simple care procedures."

The new lexicon also quotes Pope Francis, who in 2017 cautioned against insisting on treatments that merely sustain life without improving the overall health of the patient.

The PAV document clarifies that this nuanced position does not contradict the DDF's 2007 guidelines which emphasised the moral duty to provide food and water, even artificially, to patients in a vegetative state.

By allowing the space to be kept open for research on legislative mediation on the topic, Paglia in his introduction said "in this way, believers assume their responsibility to explain to everyone the universal (ethical) sense disclosed in the Christian faith".

Sources

Crux Now

Vatican News

CathNews New Zealand

However, the meeting highlighted a rare agreement between the Catholic and Coptic Orthodox Churches on their stance against homosexual relationships.

During their meeting, Pope Tawadros II expressed his concerns directly, urging clarity and consistency in upholding traditional Christian values.

Cardinal Fernández responded by acknowledging the importance of these values. He also mentioned the need for ongoing dialogue to address and bridge any misunderstandings or disagreements that arise.

This encounter follows the Vatican's controversial clarification outlined in "Fiducia Supplicans", allowing for a non-liturgical same-sex blessing for couples. Some have interpreted this as a shift in the Church's position on homosexuality.

In response to the publication, the Holy Synod of the Coptic Orthodox Church suspended theological dialogue with the Catholic Church. The Synod also adopted a fundamental statement in which it reaffirmed its rejection of homosexual acts.

This suspension underscored the seriousness with which the Coptic Church regards the matter. It views any form of blessing for same-sex unions as contradictory to Christian doctrine.

Cardinal Fernández, head of the Vatican's Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, reassured Pope Tawadros that these blessings are not equivalent to the sacrament of marriage.

The declaration "Dignitas Infinita" also makes it abundantly clear that the Catholic Church completely rejects same-sex marriages.

Path of Love

Fernández emphasised the Catholic Church's adherence to traditional teachings on marriage as a union exclusively between a man and a woman. This position aligns with the beliefs of the Coptic Orthodox Church which has a similar doctrinal stance on homosexuality and marriage.

According to a news release issued by the Coptic Church, Tawadros told Fernández there is a path of love between the two churches. He also stressed the importance of dialogue.

Tawadros called for evaluating the results achieved by the Catholic-Oriental Orthodox Dialogue Commission over its 20 years of existence. He also expressed the need for more effective methods and mechanisms for the Commission's work.

Pope Francis met with Tawadros in May 2023 to mark the 50-year anniversary of restored relations between the Catholic Church and the Coptic Orthodox Church. However since March, formal ecumenical dialogue remains suspended.

Sources

Katholisch

Catholic News Agency

CathNews New Zealand

In a letter dated April 30 Francis commended Drachma Parents, an organisation supporting LGBTQ Catholics, for their efforts. He described their work as "very beautiful and good".

In their initial letter to the pope on April 23, Drachma Parents voiced concerns that the Vatican's document, titled Dignitas Infinita, could alienate transgender Catholics and their families. They highlighted potential difficulties remaining in the church and criticised the document's understanding of gender complexities, contrasting it with the pope's inclusive approach.

Grave violations

The Vatican's document, released on April 8, broadens the church's definition of "grave violations" to include issues beyond sexual ethics. It addresses gender-affirming surgery and gender theory alongside topics like war, poverty and sexual abuse.

Drachma Parents raised several criticisms in the letter to Francis, including:

• Concerns over possible rise in homelessness among transgender youth
• Potential increase in hate speech, discrimination and violence
• Moral equivalence drawn between medical interventions for transgender individuals and other grave violations
• Failure to acknowledge transgender persons' pursuit of physical and mental integrity
• Lack of scientific or theological studies cited within the Vatican document

The letter also called for an international symposium on sexual and gender diversity involving LGBTQ individuals, their parents, researchers and theologians.

Intrinsically disordered

Joseanne Peregin, a founding member of Drachma Parents, expressed hope that the document would clarify language surrounding LGBTQ issues. However, she fears it may instead alienate transgender individuals and their families.

In particular, Peregin said the church's use of the phrase "intrinsically disordered" to describe same-sex relations "creates a ripple effect among many millions of faithful because the LGBTQ reality is put in a negative framework".

Drachma Parents viewed the pope's "open heart" response positively.

The group remains committed to supporting LGBTQ Catholics and fostering dialogue with the Church.

"We are determined to continue in our mission to support other parents and continue building a bridge between the LGBTQ community and our Church" the Drachma Parents' letter concludes. "Yes, we still call it 'our Church'."

The National Catholic Reporter examined the correspondence between the pope and Drachma Parents. Drachma has requested that the full contents of Francis' response be kept private.

Sources

National Catholic Reporter

The Malta Independent

CathNews New Zealand

It tackles complicated moral ideas, many of them further complicated by current political debates.

But many commentaries misunderstand what the Vatican presented, or tried to present, in keeping with the philosophical and theological underpinnings of Catholic teachings, and the complexity of the document belies its intent.

The back story

Here is the back story: In 2019 — on the Ides of March, as it happens — the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith decided to write on the dignity of the person.

Or, as the doctrinal office explained back then, it had decided on drafting:

a text highlighting the indispensable nature of the dignity of the human person in Christian anthropology and illustrating the significance and beneficial implication of the concept in the social, political, and economic realms —

while also taking into account the latest developments on the subject in academic and the ambivalent ways in which the concept is understood today.

Not exactly an engaging start.

As it appeared five years later, on April 8, the document delivered on that promise to explain the Catholic teaching that "the dignity of every human being can be understood as ‘infinite.'"

That's it.

The hair-splitting commentaries that followed, however, focused on three things: What comprises "dignity"? Who, exactly, is a "human being"? And how long is "infinite"?

Freedom and rights

Human freedom and personal rights are central to the church's teachings.

But if that is the case, ask the naysayers, why are people not free to exercise their personal rights? That is, why does the church seek to curtail certain acts and certain ways of living?

That is where things get dicey.

Catholic moral theology is based on the ethical and philosophical theory of natural law. At its most basic, natural law demands doing good over evil.

But not everyone agrees on what is good and what is evil.

Some things are obviously evil — say, murder and genocide. Also, mutilation and torture. And slavery, sexual abuse and general degradation of persons in any of a thousand ways. Poverty. War. Human trafficking.

But some of the items on the Vatican's list of evils — abortion, surrogacy, euthanasia and assisted suicide — collide with political discussions happening all over the world.

The Catholic Church defines these acts as denials of freedom and human dignity.

Each begins and ends with the destruction of an independent human life — directly through abortion, euthanasia and assisted suicide, indirectly with surrogacy, which the document says robs women of dignity by turning their procreative power into a commodity.

It often involves destruction of "extra" embryos.

Each is a variation of self-interest and, ultimately, selfishness.

The document then switches gears, defending persons with disabilities and those with differing sexual orientations, insisting that the inherent dignity of each person must be respected without discrimination or violence.

The document's most controversial sections use the term "gender theory," but not "LGBTQ," in itself controversial. But its terminology does not deviate from its insistence on dignity for everyone.

A formal Vatican document could never use "LGBTQ," simply because the term covers a range of statuses and behaviors — each letter stands for a distinct way of being.

Which leads to perhaps the most controversial of sections: sex change.

The Vatican flatly states that "the dignity of the body cannot be considered inferior to that of the person as such."

What is missing in most commentaries is the concluding section on "digital violence," which may in fact be precursor to another, as-yet-unwritten document on artificial intelligence.

The digital violence section notes the necessary evils of fake news, slander, cyberbullying, pornography, even gambling. Any can destroy a person. All are affronts to human dignity.

Different views

"Dignitas Infinita" collects and categorises the affronts to human dignity and calls out the movements in modern society that ignore their dangers.

Not everyone will agree, and too many will ignore the straight lines that connect each topic.

In the end, the naysayers argue that "dignity" means doing what you want, when you want, how you want.

They do not agree on who is a "human being."

They forget that "infinite" means absolute.

• First published in Religion News Service
• Phyllis Zagano is an author at Religion News Service.

The have grappled with what it means to balance having a pope who literally and figuratively embraces their community while approving documents that seem to call their very dignity into question.

That reality is playing out again today, with the release of the Vatican declaration "Dignitas Infinita,".

Dignitas Infinita is a 12,000-word treatise articulating previous church teaching on a number of issues related to human dignity.

Many Vatican analysts point out that rather than presenting new teaching, "Dignitas Infinita" more or less summarises existing Church doctrine.

It touches on a number of issues related to human dignity, including war, poverty, sex abuse and human trafficking.

The document, which has been in the works for the past five years, cites other popes and Vatican documents.

It also tries to synthesise the thoughts of Pope Francis.

The whiplash striking LGBTQ Catholics

The whiplash that accompanies being a Catholic and member of the LGBTQ community today is present even within this single document.

That's because the sections that touch most closely on LGBTQ issues actually include a couple of bright spots - before offering strong condemnations of "gender theory" and "sex change" surgeries.

What does the new declaration say?

First, "Dignitas Infinita" reiterates church teaching that:

"every person, regardless of sexual orientation, ought to be respected in his or her dignity and treated with consideration, while ‘every sign of unjust discrimination' is to be carefully avoided, particularly any form of aggression and violence."

Then it goes a step further, condemning laws that criminalise homosexuality, stating:

"it should be denounced as contrary to human dignity the fact that, in some places, not a few people are imprisoned, tortured, and even deprived of the good of life solely because of their sexual orientation."

For years, LGBTQ activists had urged Pope Francis to speak out against laws that criminalise homosexuality, particularly statutes and bills in some African countries that had the support of local bishops.

Francis took this step last year, becoming the first pope to condemn laws in at least 67 countries that criminalise homosexuality.

Now the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith has further bolstered the notion that Catholics should not support these kinds of prohibitions.

At a press conference following the release of the document, Cardinal Víctor Fernández, the prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, described it as "painful" to learn that some Catholics support laws criminalising homosexuality.

He said "we do not agree with criminalisation."

James Martin, S.J., the founder of Outreach, said in a statement that he is "grateful that the Vatican has reiterated its official condemnation of every kind of violence against LGBTQ people, including imprisonment and execution.

"That cannot be repeated too often as an offense against human dignity.

"The LGBTQ person, like everyone else, has infinite dignity."

The document is also notable for what it doesn't contain.

These are, namely, some of the harsher language present in an earlier Vatican document about gender identity - even some of the phrases spoken by Pope Francis himself around this topic.

But those omissions will probably offer little comfort to the transgender Catholic community and their families and allies, who will undoubtedly be hurt by what is included. Read more

• Michael J. O'Loughlin is a journalist, author, commentator, and speaker who covers religion and politics with a particular focus on the Catholic Church. He is the executive director of Outreach, an LGBTQ Catholic resource.