Catholic Church in India ‘appalled’ by country’s first euthanasia death
Summary
India’s first court-approved passive euthanasia case ended with the death of Harish Rana, after doctors withdrew life support. Rana had been in a vegetative state for 13 years after a fall in 2013. The article centres on the response from Catholic leaders, especially Archbishop Raphy Manjaly of Agra, who said the Church was “shocked and appalled” by the ruling and reaffirmed the Catholic position that human life must be protected from conception to natural death.The article places the decision in the context of earlier Indian euthanasia litigation, in which the Supreme Court had said the constitutional right to life did not include a right to die.
Relevance
This article documents a major euthanasia development in a non-Western context and records an immediate Catholic response grounded in the language of sanctity of life and palliative care. It is also notable for showing how court decisions on end-of-life treatment can quickly become part of wider public and religious debate about the acceptable limits of care.