Hospice & Palliative Care Month

This month, we take a moment to recognize and honor National Hospice and Palliative Care Month, a time to reflect on the value of compassionate end-of-life care. In a culture that often overlooks or even threatens the dignity of the elderly and terminally ill, it is especially important to remember the profound importance of caring for each person until their natural end.
 
In 2020, the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith released the letter Samaritanus bonus, “on the care of persons in the critical and terminal phases of life.” The letter reaffirms the Church’s teaching on care for those who are critically ill or dying and offers additional pastoral guidance for increasingly complex situations at the end of life. The following offers a brief overview of key points from this important document with a specific focus on what it says about palliative care and hospice. 
 
Palliative Care and Hospice “Death is a decisive moment in the human person’s encounter with God the Savior. Helping the Christian to experience this moment with spiritual assistance is a supreme act of charity. It encompasses the patient with the solid support of human relationships to accompany them and open them to hope. Palliative care and hospice are precious and crucial instruments in the care of patients with serious and complex chronic or terminal illnesses, and they help provide comfort to both the patients and their families.” USCCB Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities “The Witness of the Good Samaritan: Palliative Care and Hospice”