Page 362 - Orthodoxy Zizioulas

O r t h o d o x y
creativity, purification, even holiness.
At the same time, the Church does not idealize pain or
impose it legalistically. It knows the limits of human endur-
ance. This is why in the Orthodox tradition there exists the
prayer “For One in the Agony of Death,” a moving prayer that
asks God to hasten death mercifully when suffering becomes
unbearable. This reveals something profound: the Church
does not operate by rigid legalism. It places the human being
above abstract rules. The Cross is not imposed as an unbear-
able burden, but carried according to the strength each person
is able to bear.
For this reason the Church is hesitant to endorse euthana-
sia, not from indifference to suffering, but because no legal or
moral system can adequately protect personal freedom from
interference by physicians, the state, or social pressures. Eu-
thanasia arises within a culture marked by individualism, fear
of suffering, and utilitarian reasoning. Every legal structure
permitting it risks sacrificing the concrete human person to
these forces. The danger is too great to ignore.
The physician remains the companion of the dying person
on the painful path out of this life. The physician’s duty is to
make that path as painless as possible, through care, compas-
sion, psychological support, and all available medical means.
Yet this differs profoundly from directly causing death. What
may be morally justified, in certain circumstances, is not ac-
tive killing, but the withdrawal of artificial means that only
prolong biological existence in an unnatural and burdensome
way. To remove futile mechanical support and allow death to
proceed naturally is different from intentionally causing death.
Thus decisions at the end of life are always made within
tragic dilemmas that admit no simplifications. Absolute con-
demnation of every form of euthanasia may lead to inhuman
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