Vatican City - The Vatican yesterday criticised the Netherlands' decision to become the first country to legalise euthanasia, calling it abhorrent and criminal, and the doctors who perform it "butchers". The Vatican's forceful denunciation was contained in an editorial in its L'Osservatore Romano newspaper written by Father Gino Concetti, a moral theologian whose views reflect those of Pope John Paul.
"The Dutch law is worthy of condemnation and reprobation. Euthanasia is an abhorrent choice and killing a patient is a criminal gesture," the editorial said. "It is hard to believe how a choice which is so macabre can be called `civil' and `humanitarian'. . . Can it really be true that, at the dawn of the third millennium, there can be slaves to desperation and that one can give up the hope of life? And can a doctor legitimately take on the role of a butcher?"