Reassuring Patients:

The pope’s remarks came during a Vatican (news – web sites) symposium on caring for people who are incapacitated. They are significant but do not carry the weight of an encyclical — the Vatican’s most authoritative level of teaching, reserved for matters of extreme importance to the church.

“We have to figure out more specifically what he meant and the implications. I think it’s too soon to tell; there are a lot of filters to go through,” said Dan Dwyer, director of ethics for the Springfield, Mo.-based St. John’s Health System, which includes a half-dozen regional hospitals.

In noting that the health system would continue following the ERDs, Dwyer said “we don’t want to tell a physician not to practice medicine.”

“Our intention is to provide care and comfort, not to put someone to death quicker because they’re suffering,” he said. “If there’s a vague or gray zone, we always favor providing nutrition and hydration. It’s recognized as a very special form of care.”