Hey Father! Is it a sin if you know you are sick — have cancer, whatever it may be — and you know there is medicine or a procedure that could help, but you decide not to do it? 

Deb in Springfield

Dear Deb, 

You raise an important question which touches at the intersection of two fundamental truths of our faith: the dignity of our earthly human life and our responsibility to care for and preserve it; while understanding the reality of death and the promise of the resurrection.  

Under normal circumstances, one should always care for one’s body as a gift given by God. One should live responsibly and utilize medical assistance to help the body function properly. Certainly, God’s hand is seen in the work done to alleviate pain, heal disease, and prolong healthy life.

However, not every medical intervention is morally necessary or prudent to pursue. Treatments which are more burdensome than beneficial or offer little expectation of success are not obligatory. In the example you list, one may certainly decline treatments when one has been battling a disease and has reached the point where the treatments themselves do not offer significant chance for success but rather more likely extend suffering and only prolong death. But one would not normally refuse treatments at the initial stages which would be expected to help the body continue to function. Prayer, prudence, and responsible consultation are crucial for navigating such circumstances.

Finally, it is important to be able to distinguish between the acceptance of death as our earthly body realizes its limitations and the intentional acts to hasten death. As I mentioned, one can legitimately refuse treatments which only extend the inevitability of approaching death, but one can never legitimately seek to hasten death or assist another in doing so by suicide, murder, euthanasia, or assisted suicide.  

May God grant you health and both a love for this life and the hope of life eternal.

• Father Peter Harman holds a Doctorate in Moral Theology from the Catholic University of America and is pastor of St. Anthony of Padua Parish in Effingham.  He is also the bishop’s delegate for health care professionals, and chaplain for the Springfield Chapter of the Catholic Physician’s Guild/Catholic Medical Association.