HUNDREDS of Roman Catholic priests have united today to protest against a government Bill that they claim will legalise euthanasia.

Some 750 priests out of the 5,189 in England and Wales have signed a letter to The Times calling on MPs to oppose the Mental Capacity Bill.

The Bill enshrines the concept of living wills, allowing a person to direct that they should not receive treatment if they become incapacitated. It will allow potential sufferers to nominate a friend or relative to instruct doctors not to give them treatment.

The Bill, expected to come into force in 2007, is opposed by the priests, headed by Father Timothy Finigan, of the Association of Priests for the Gospel of Life, and including Father Paul Chavasse, Provost of the Birmingham Oratory, and Father Aidan Nichols, OP, Prior of Blackfriars, Cambridge. They say that a clause making it clear that murder, manslaughter and assisted suicide laws are unchanged is insufficient to prevent “euthanasia by omission”.

The official policy of the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales is to lobby for amendments to the Bill rather than its outright rejection.

The Bill has the backing of charities such as Mencap, Turning Point and the Alzheimer’s Society, grouped as the Making Decisions Alliance.

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