Several leading Church figures have commented on the euthanasia of Noelia Castillo and have come out against this course of action. In the words of the Bishop of the Canary Islands, José Mazuelos Pérez, “we have all failed as a society”.
In a statement, the bishops of the Subcommission for the Family and the Defence of Life expressed their sorrow over the case of the young woman, which they said reflected “an accumulation of personal suffering and institutional shortcomings that calls the whole of society into question”.
In Mazuelos’s view, this option represents “another step towards a culture of death, throwing in the towel on the humanisation of medicine. There is a desire to require the doctor to end Noelia’s life, when a doctor’s mission is to cure and, if they cannot cure, to accompany and relieve”.
Luis Argüello, president of the Spanish Bishops’ Conference, struck a very similar tone: “A doctor cannot act as the executioner for a death sentence, however legal, empowering or compassionate it may appear”. The organisation Christian Lawyers also offered their condolences over what had happened to Noelia.
“If deliberately caused death is the solution to problems, then anything goes”