Human Dignity and the End of Life

I just saw a reference to an article (Human Dignity and the End of Life) in America magazine (August 4, 2008 issue) by Cardinal Rigali and Bishop Lori. I am not sure if the article is available for free on America's website. The article is a response to previous America articles by Thomas Shannon and John Hardt on providing artificial nutrition and hydration to PVS patients. Shannon and Hardt, according to the article, "appear to misunderstand and subsequently misrepresent the substance of church teaching on these difficult and important ethical questions."

I think the current article by Cardinal Rigali and Bishop Lori commendably explains the Church's position on this issue and the errors in the Shannon and Hardt articles, about which we have blogged in the past. I am curious what people think about what seems to be a growing practice of the Bishops to issue statments of this sort. Since the implementation of Ex Corde, there hasn't been any real use of the mandatum and maybe this is a concerted (non-disciplinary) effort on the part of the Bishops to try to make sure that Church teaching is articulated clearly.

Richard M.