Welcome to the Tomistic Institute podcast.

Our mission is to promote the Catholic intellectual tradition in the university, the church, and the wider public square.

The lectures on this podcast are organized by university students at Temistic Institute chapters around the world.

To learn more and to attend these events,

visit us at Thomisticinstitute.org.

I'd like to begin with this quote from the congregation

for the doctrine of faith's 2020 letters,

Samartanus Bonus, which is on end of life ethics,

which connects Christ suffering on the cross, in particular to

the suffering of the sick and the dying. So it says the nearness of the God made man is manifest

in the living experience of Christ's suffering, of his agony on the cross and his resurrection.

His experience of multiple forms of pain and anguish resonates with the sick

and their families during the long days of infirmity that precede the end of life.

So we've discussed in the previous talks how in suffering well we can contribute to our own

salvation and the salvation of others, and how

suffering can unleash love in the world when others suffer with those who suffer.

But we also discussed how suffering is an experience of evil, and so how it is permissible

and even good to work to alleviate suffering.

So the question for this talk is how can we rightfully alleviate suffering?

To answer these questions, I'll be taking you through Catholic teaching on medical treatment decision

making, and I will examine along the way how considerations of suffering rightly and wrongly factor in.

Then we'll turn to Catholic teaching on euthanasia and palliative care.

...