{"id":153300,"date":"2021-04-27T09:30:48","date_gmt":"2021-04-27T13:30:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/ask-a-priest-is-the-five-wishes-ok-for-end-of-life-decisions\/"},"modified":"2024-10-22T15:05:17","modified_gmt":"2024-10-22T19:05:17","slug":"ask-a-priest-is-the-five-wishes-ok-for-end-of-life-decisions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/ask-a-priest-is-the-five-wishes-ok-for-end-of-life-decisions\/","title":{"rendered":"“Ask a Priest: Is the ‘Five Wishes’ OK for End-of-Life Decisions?”"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
Q: I will soon be 70 and in bad health. I need to know if I do the Five Wishes, by giving my daughter the power to allow me to die, like a living will? Is it considered a mortal sin? I don’t want her to have to pay for care, while watching me slowly die. I appreciate an honest answer and not just one to put me at ease. My soul is important — it is the only one I have. \u2013 J.R.<\/p>\n

\n<\/address>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Answered by Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC<\/em><\/p>\n

A:\u00a0It is certainly good that you are focused on guarding your soul. Though the end of life can be difficult, it can also be a grace in that it gives us time to prepare to meet Our Lord.<\/p>\n

However, living wills, especially the Five Wishes type, can be morally problematic.<\/p>\n

The Five Wishes, in broad outline, are: 1) the person I want to make health-care decisions for me when I can’t; 2) the kind of medical treatment I want or don’t want; 3) how comfortable I want to be; 4) how I want people to treat me; and 5) what I want my loved ones to know.<\/p>\n

The Five Wishes might have a certain appeal on first glance. But they can oversimplify things, and they imply that certain kinds of suffering render a life not worth living. This is not a Christian attitude.<\/p>\n

The better route is that a patient and the person who might make decisions about the patient understand Catholic teaching on end-of-life issues. They might need to consult a Catholic bioethics expert in certain cases.<\/p>\n

Certain principles need to be followed. For instance, there are times when treatment can be licitly withheld, but things such as hydration and basic nutrition must be given as long as a person can accept them.<\/p>\n

The Catechism in No. 2278 says, “Discontinuing medical procedures that are burdensome, dangerous, extraordinary, or disproportionate to the expected outcome can be legitimate; it is the refusal of ‘over-zealous’ treatment. Here one does not will to cause death; one’s inability to impede it is merely accepted. The decisions should be made by the patient if he is competent and able or, if not, by those legally entitled to act for the patient, whose reasonable will and legitimate interests must always be respected.”<\/p>\n

For more reading about living wills, see the posting<\/a> on “Should I Have a Living Will?”<\/p>\n

Other helpful reading in line with Catholic principles can be this guide<\/a> on end-of-life decisions and an article on a revision<\/a> of a health-care directive. I hope some of this helps.<\/p>\n

Keep learning more with <\/span>Ask a Priest<\/a><\/p>\n

Got a question? Need an answer?<\/h3>\n

Today\u2019s secular world throws curve balls at us all the time. AskACatholicPriest is a Q&A feature that anyone can use. Just type in your question or send an email to AskAPriest@rcspiritual.wpenginepowered.com<\/a> and you will get a personal response back from one of our priests at RCSpirituality. You can ask about anything \u2013 liturgy, prayer, moral questions, current events\u2026 Our goal is simply to provide a trustworthy forum for dependable Catholic guidance and information. So go ahead and ask your question\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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Edward McIlmail, LC","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/485147bd811c2a8642adf1f1806f85f0adef2b00ef8ccabc9b46f8420af19e16?s=96&d=blank&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/485147bd811c2a8642adf1f1806f85f0adef2b00ef8ccabc9b46f8420af19e16?s=96&d=blank&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/485147bd811c2a8642adf1f1806f85f0adef2b00ef8ccabc9b46f8420af19e16?s=96&d=blank&r=g","caption":"Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC"},"description":"Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC, ordained to the priesthood in 2001, taught theology and Scripture at the then Mater Ecclesiae College in Rhode Island and is now a part-time chaplain at Overbrook Academy in Greenville, R.I. He holds degrees from Holy Apostles College and Seminary in Connecticut, the Regina Apostolorum Athenaeum in Rome, and Northwestern University in Illinois. He was an assistant publisher of the National Catholic Register and Faith & Family magazine and an editor of the Zenit news agency\u2019s English edition. He has written for\u00a0SpiritualDirection.com\u00a0and\u00a0ePriest. Fr. McIlmail also worked in spiritual retreats in the Northeast, New England, the Midwest, and the South\u00a0and assisted with mission work in Mexico. Born in Philadelphia, he worked in journalism and was active in the pro-life movement before entering the novitiate of the Legion of Christ in 1992. His contributions to RCSpirituality include responding to\u00a0Ask A Priest\u00a0questions and sharing his insights in our\u00a0Weekly Newsletter.","url":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/author\/emcilmail\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153300","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/362"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=153300"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153300\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/145952"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=153300"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=153300"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=153300"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=153300"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}