Catholic bishops reaffirm opposition to euthanasia
30/03/2005 - 11:53:33Ireland's Catholic bishops have issued a statement reaffirming their opposition to any form of euthanasia.
The statement was issued in response to reports today that a severely disabled Irishman was recently taken to Switzerland by his family for an assisted suicide.
The man in his 30s had suffered serious brain and neck injuries in an accident a number of years ago and was unable to feed or clothe himself.
While insisting that they would not comment on individual cases, the Catholic bishops said in their statement that euthanasia was "the deliberate killing of a human being and it is contrary to the law of God".
"God is the giver of life and God alone has the right to decide when a life should end," the statement said.
