The leader of the Catholic Church announced in a recent press release that he had asked a conference of Catholic priests and doctors to come to a consensus regarding the issue of death, one that would also incorporate the latest scientific discoveries and medical techniques. The main topic was deep coma, when patients are brain-dead, and their bodies are kept alive only by automated machines, which basically take over the role of the brain to perform bodily functions.

 

"Science, in recent years, has made further progress in the determination of the death of a patient. In an area like this, there cannot be the slightest hint of arbitrariness," the official Vatican press release stated. As a direct result, the pope asked the scientific community to formulate a set of guidelines, which could guide and regulate interpretations on when a person's life is over and when not.

 

However, Benedict XVI reiterated his thorough disapproval of genetic researches involving human embryonic stem cells, and argued that the creation and destruction of viable embryos was a capital sin that the Catholic Church did not condone.

 

Some say that the Pope's statement came as a response to a news article published in the “Osservatore Romano Vatican” newspaper, which argued the advantages of keeping comatose pregnant women alive enough time for their babies to be born. "The idea that a person ceases to exist when the brain no longer works... directly contradicts the concept of a person according to Catholic doctrine and the directives of the Church on the issue of persistent comas," the article said.

 

Federico Lombardi, a spokesman for the Vatican, said about the article that it was "a weighty and interesting contribution" and that, "[it] cannot be considered as a position" of the Catholic Church. Hopefully, a consensus on this specific matter will be reached soon.