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Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith , and therefore of the Holy Father , to recall that , in the preparation of the 1994 Ethical and Religious Directives , the Committee on Doctrine of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops was in direct consultation with the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith with regard to the wording of its statement on artificial nutrition and hydration . Thus , if you believe there is no God , you must construct a narrative that will explain the multitudinous variety of species without having recourse to anything except what is material , tangible , perceptible to the senses . After surveying the literature on this question , it is also clear that greater efforts have to be made to use the Catholic documents such as the Ethical and Religious Directives , the NCCB Pro-Life Committee statement on nutrition and hydration , and the two great encyclicals of John Paul II , The Splendor of Truth and The Gospel of Life , in programs to teach bioethics to all Catholic doctors , nurses and other health care professionals . It aids us in living upright lives and maintaining appropriate foresight . Universities that exclude the active consideration of issues from the classic Christian tradition exist and are in the vast majority . Our Catholic priests have been under intense public scrutiny during the past several decades and , as their numbers diminish , it is hard to imagine that they will no longer be objects of curiosity , admiration , and concern . A document of Pope John Paul II that is helpful in this discussion about artificial nutrition and hydration is the 1993 encyclical The Splendor of Truth . The paper has a helpful appendix on the technical aspects of medically assisted nutrition and hydration . And anything we do for them can hardly match his herculean deeds for our own Irish ancestors . There are little or no social consequences to do anything except practice chastity . Even before determining whether such treatment is a medical procedure or normal care , artificial nutrition and hydration would not be required when death is clearly imminent and inevitable . This last sentence of the Catechism does not indicate that any individual soul can necessarily intercede for us , nor does the number in question tell us anything about how the souls would know what to pray for but it does clearly state that they intercede for us and their efforts can succeed .