Belgian "Brothers of Mercy" psychiatric hospitals allow euthanasia

Belgian psychiatric hospitals run by the "Brothers of Mercy" order will now allow their doctors to euthanize patients, reports Sedmitsa citing CWN.

The "Brothers of Mercy", whose hospitals cover approximately 5,000 patients in Belgium, announced: "We respect the freedom of physicians to decide whether to commit euthanasia or not and the freedom of other employees to participate in it or not."

The Council of Hospitals of the "Brothers of Mercy" made a statement, which reads: "We take into account the extreme caution regarding the patients' requests for euthanasia." But the statement also notes that at the same time, "unbearable and hopeless suffering" is considered.

"René Stockman, the international leader of the Brothers of Mercy (and ironically, a Belgian), informed from Rome that the decision of the Belgian institutions within the structure of the Brothers of Mercy hospitals is contrary to the policy of this Catholic monastic order. "We regret this new vision," Stockman said.