Moral responsibility in prolonging life decisions

This book has been prepared as a resource contribution to the Church's ministry to suffering and dying persons and to the healing and caring ministry of countless health care professionals. As chapter 7 indicates, the theological tradition of a limited responsibility for prolonging life in the face of burdensome medical treatments has a long and honorable history in the Church. The Pope John XXIII Center for Medical-Moral Research and Education, which has dedicated itself to the task of applying Church teaching to contemporary medical-moral issues, offers this resource volume as a continuation of that history. -from Preface.