Will a Catholic hospital follow my advance directive?

Mostly, but not always. Directive 24 of the Ethical and Religious Directives covers this. It says a Catholic hospital will make information about advance directives available under state law. Then it adds: "The institution, however, will not honor an advance directive that is contrary to Catholic teaching. If the advance directive conflicts with Catholic teaching, an explanation should be provided as to why the directive cannot be honored."

Most of what people put in a directive is unaffected. Catholic teaching lets you turn down treatment that offers no reasonable hope of benefit. You may also turn down treatment that is too burdensome. It permits DNR orders where resuscitation would not help you. And it permits full pain relief. Directive 57 of the seventh edition goes further. That edition was approved in November 2025. The directive covers a competent adult's informed judgment about life-sustaining care. It says that judgment "should always be respected and normally complied with." The limit is that it must not be contrary to Catholic moral teaching. The edition matters here. In the previous edition this rule was numbered 59, and 57 covered something else.

What is excluded is directing that your death be caused.

The practical advice is simple. Raise the document on admission. Ask directly whether any part of it would not be followed. Finding out during a crisis is the version everyone wants to avoid. Ask also that it be scanned into your chart. Directives fail most often because nobody can find them.

Sources

• National Cancer Institute — Managing Cancer Care: Advance Directives
• MedlinePlus — Advance Directives
• National Cancer Institute — End-of-Life Care for People Who Have Cancer
• USCCB — Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services, Seventh Edition