It’s nice to know that Catholic theologians and ethicists are so willing and ready to listen when the Pope speaks on a matter of faith and morality. For example, the Holy Father recently said that food and water are never extraordinary means and it’s never right to deny them to someone who is comatose or in a “vegetative” state, a word that neither the Pope nor I like because it implies a loss of humanity.
So what do Catholic theologians, priests, ethicists, and hospital managers say in response? They’ll have to think about it, but many of them think the Pope should have stayed out of it. Just consider what one priest at Boston College has to say:
