The Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SACBC) has resolved to strengthen the Church’s engagement on assisted dying in South Africa, including through legal advocacy and theological reflection.

The decision was taken during the bishops’ August 2026 Plenary, following a report by Dominican Fr Stan Muyebe, Secretary of the Conference’s Department for the Promotion of Integral Human Development (previously Department for Social Action).

According to the August plenary resolutions the bishops resolved to implement the department’s previously approved name change to the Department for the Promotion of Integral Human Development. They also mandated the department to engage in advocacy against assisted dying, including seeking legal advice, and resolved to appoint moral theologians to develop a theological response to the issue.

The resolutions come as Dignity South Africa (DignitySA) challenges the common-law prohibition on medically assisted dying before the Gauteng Division of the High Court in Pretoria.

Constitutional challenge

DignitySA is asking the Court to declare the prohibition unconstitutional, arguing that it limits constitutional rights including human dignity, equality, bodily and psychological integrity.

The case focuses particularly on people experiencing intolerable suffering as a result of terminal illness. DignitySA is also seeking recognition of a constitutionally protected entitlement to medically assisted dying under regulated circumstances and an order directing Parliament to establish an appropriate legal framework.

The Department of Health and the Health Professions Council of South Africa have opposed the application, while the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development has indicated that it will abide by the Court’s decision.

SACBC considers legal intervention

The SACBC is considering participating in the proceedings as amicus curiae, or ‘friend of the court’, to provide a legal contribution reflecting the Church’s longstanding engagement with human dignity, the protection of human life, care for people experiencing serious illness and vulnerability, and ethical end-of-life care.

For the Catholic Church, the debate touches on the belief that human life is sacred and should be respected and protected from conception until natural death.

The bishops’ resolution also calls for theological reflection, recognising the need for a considered response to the moral and pastoral questions raised by assisted dying.

The SACBC is now seeking Catholic legal practitioners willing to contribute their professional expertise on a pro bono basis to assist with the Church’s proposed participation in the proceedings.

Interested legal practitioners are invited to contact caritas.sa@sacbc.org.za.