"I have the right to choose my death for the good of others," says the writer Umberto Eco. According to Adriano Bompiani, one of the fathers of Italian bioethics, "euthanasia should be eliminated, even as a word from the dictionary." Two different points of view on a complex issue. On the Island, the proposed law on the end of life is making progress amid controversy that is not only dividing the political sides but also insinuating itself within the majority.
Sardinia comes after Tuscany which has a law already challenged by the Government. The Sardinian Church takes a stand on all this, expressing strong doubts and perplexities, with the archbishop of Cagliari and general secretary of the CEI Giuseppe Baturi yesterday visiting the headquarters of the L'Unione Sarda group where he met the publisher Sergio Zuncheddu, the vice president of the board of directors Franco Siddi and the director Emanuele Dessì. «It would be better to wait for the developments of the path of the national law because it is difficult to imagine a regional disparity of treatment on such a delicate issue. On a subject that concerns the dignity of man and the right to life we must remove the danger of territorial fragmentation», says the general secretary of the CEI, who recalls the article of the Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms: «The right to life is the first of the inviolable rights of man».
The Constitutional Court has intervened several times on the end of life.
"It has established the non-punishability of anyone who assists in a suicide and therefore facilitates it under certain conditions, which must always be considered in a restrictive manner. The Constitutional Court has explicitly excluded the existence of a right to death equivalent to the right to life. We must reason in terms of exception, taking into account the freedom of the person, the value of consciousness, the terminal state, the dependence on life-sustaining treatments. The Court has invoked the intervention of Parliament. The Senate committees are about to examine the text that should arrive in the Chamber in mid-July".
An identical email was sent to numerous schools across Italy: students in public squares from Cagliari to Sassari. Crosetto: "Strategy, but there are also idiots and mythomaniacs."
A mystery that lasted six and a half years, since then the family has only received an envelope with the house keys and the man's documents.
John Lorenzo Porra
What is the Church's position on assisted suicide?
"We want to reiterate that the drama of so many lives, defined as "total pain", does not only derive from physical inability, but often also from loneliness, from physical pain that is unbearable, from the need for psychological assistance and the involvement of society in emotional terms. Intervening in these areas means intervening on freedom, which is such only if it has no moral constraints. As the Presidency of the CEI recalled last February 19, "there can be no polarization or games of lowering in life. Dignity does not end with illness or when efficiency is lacking. It is not a question of obstinacy, but of not losing humanity"».
But what can you do when faced with “total pain”?
«The solution is not to hasten or facilitate death but to respond in terms of total care».
What is meant by “total care”?
"It is the one that deals with physical integrity, emotional aspects, home care, pain therapy and the involvement of the third sector. We are talking about palliative care, which is an aspect regulated by law 38, which in 2022 had the objective of reaching 90% coverage for terminally ill patients. Throughout the country we register a strong disparity in treatment. In Trentino the coverage is over 70%, in Sardinia it does not reach 5%".
The hospice that provides exclusive palliative care is a fundamental piece of this system.
"In Sardinia, as in other regions, there is no territorial plan for the establishment of hospices. There is a lot to do to support a terminal patient. I think about the role that associations could play. The depth of our civilization is measured by the ability to guarantee care even when there is no recovery to ensure that no one is abandoned. It is necessary to have defined roles and involve the third sector for co-planning. When I speak of the third sector I am referring to community networks capable of developing empathy, love for the person, of counteracting the worsening of discomfort: the parish, associations, friends. The Church offers its contribution and will continue to do so."
How to avoid the risk of therapeutic obstinacy?
"It must be specified that the Church, since Pius XII, has not considered therapeutic obstinacy licit. This is an indisputable fact. Pius XII, speaking to anesthetists, declared deep sedation licit as a means of eliminating pain. The Church - and this must be emphasized - addresses the problem of avoiding any form of therapeutic abandonment. For us, the value is not suffering, but life and accompaniment without abandonment within a proximity of love and care. And this aspect is even more important when we speak of those conditions of infirmity that do not lead to the end of life in a short time, but are highly disabling."
What is the real concern of the Church?
"The end of life requires the dignity of living. We are concerned that the issue could be assimilated to that of assisted suicide. We must dedicate ourselves to the fight against pain and loneliness, to the preparation of welcoming spaces. We must affirm the right to care and to exist until the last fragment of life. All this means taking care of a person who does not ask to die but to be loved. Moreover, Pope Leo XIV also asked that through the "common testimony of the dignity that God gives to every person, without exceptions", and the "tender and Christian accompaniment towards the seriously ill", the entire society be encouraged to defend, rather than undermine, a civilization founded on authentic love and genuine compassion".
His position and that of Marco Cappato: is a dialogue conceivable?
"We dialogue to seek a possibility of discussion with everyone in a calm manner, on the great values. I think that caring about the extension of palliative care with all that it means can be a point of convergence even with different ethical and ideal positions. In the Senate, they are discussing giving priority to access to palliative care over the procedure of assisted suicide. It would be a logical and legal priority. I think it could be a good point of balance."
What other aspects need to be considered?
"We can find a way to advance the discussion on the end of life by taking charge of all the needs of the people. But there is another element that the legislative provisions do not consider: a logic of care must take into account the sacrifices that a family must make to care for a terminally ill patient. Instead, we see individualistic considerations. It is the individual who decides for himself. But man is within an emotional network called family."
The relationship between doctor and patient.
"Let's be careful not to turn it into a standardized and rigid procedure. There is a space for persuasion, dialogue, mutual trust that is the therapeutic one, an essential field.
In reality, something already exists. There are the Advance Treatment Directives (Dat), the living will.
"They don't convince me much, but they indicate what must be done in extreme conditions, certainly not suicide. Now, even in the proposed law that will be discussed in the Sardinian Assembly, a further step is foreseen that is worrying."
What does a terminally ill person need?
"I have accompanied many people in their final moments and I can say that they need love and hope. They do not ask to hasten death but invoke a hope with which to face it. This is why it is important to talk about community networks and solidarity for the terminally ill. It is a Christian idea - Jesus says: "I was sick and you visited me" - but it is also a secular idea. Benedict XVI, in the encyclical "Spe salvi", launched a provocative message: even suffering can be a place of hope. But this is possible only with company. For us Christians it is a great value."
What end-of-life law would be desirable?
"We are not calling for a "Catholic law". A rule is always the result of a compromise and the need to recompose different interests, rights and expectations. We think about the objective and the culture we want to develop. If on the assistance front between Trentino and Sardinia there is the difference I spoke about before, it means that there is a problem that needs to be addressed. This is certainly a priority".
