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ADDRESS OF JOHN PAUL II TO THE PARTICIPANTS IN THE INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS ON "LIFE-SUSTAINING TREATMENTS AND VEGETATIVE STATE: SCIENTIFIC ADVANCES AND ETHICAL DILEMMAS"
On March 20, 2004, almost one year to the day (March 18, 2005) that Terri's feeding tube was removed, Pope John Paul II addressed the participants in the International Congress.
The Pope spoke specifically on situations like Terri, titled, "Life-Sustaining Treatments and Vegetative State: Scientific Advances and Ethical Dilemmas".
Part of Pope John Paul's address:
"I should like particularly to underline how the administration of water and food, even when provided by artificial means, always represents a natural means of preserving life, not a medical act. Its use, furthermore, should be considered, in principle, ordinary and proportionate, and as such morally obligatory, insofar as and until it is seen to have attained its proper finality, which in the present case consists in providing nourishment to the patient and alleviation of his suffering."
