Position Paper of the Abrahamic Monotheistic Religions on Matters Concerning the End of Life

Representatives from the Catholic and Orthodox Churches and the Jewish and Muslim faiths signed a joint declaration at the Vatican reaffirming each religion’s clear opposition to euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide. Pope Francis met with the signatories on 28 October 2019 when they presented him with a copy they had signed earlier that day. They include representatives from the Vatican, the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, the Patriarchate of Moscow and All Russia, Muslim and Jewish scholars and leaders. The idea to write this document came from Rabbi Avraham Steinberg, an Israeli medical ethics expert and a member of the Pontifical Academy for Life. He along with Rabbi Fernando Szlajen of Argentina were the first rabbis invited to be members of the academy.