Die Herausforderung des Sterbens annehmen

The theme of this pastoral letter is the relationship between mankind and dying. The fact that both modern society, as well as the individual, judge people primarily by their productivity is criticized. The conscious acceptance of the reality of suffering and dying, which are irrevocably bound with life, provides mankind with the dignity to which it is entitled independently of productivity. Relatives and those caring for patients show real solidarity with the dying when they help him or her to accept this reality. This is also the concern of the hospice movement. It additionally implies the requirement for assessing when therapy should change from curative to palliative. Nevertheless, the physician is forbidden to kill the patient or help him or her to commit suicide. Suffering and death are part of the reality of life and it is thus an expression of the dignity of mankind when one helps a patient through this time as well as when one goes through it oneself.