Southern African Catholic Bishops strengthens response to assisted dying court challenge

The Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference will increase its opposition to assisted dying in South Africa through legal advocacy and theological study. During their August 2026 plenary, the bishops mandated the Department for the Promotion of Integral Human Development to seek legal advice and engage in advocacy against the practice. The bishops also resolved to appoint moral theologians to create a theological response to the issue.

This decision follows a report by Father Stan Muyebe, the secretary of the department, and comes as the group Dignity South Africa challenges the common-law prohibition of medically assisted dying in the Gauteng Division of the High Court in Pretoria. Dignity South Africa argues that the current prohibition is unconstitutional because it limits rights to equality, human dignity, and bodily and psychological integrity.

The legal challenge specifically addresses people facing intolerable suffering from terminal illnesses. Dignity South Africa is asking the court to recognize a constitutional entitlement to medically assisted dying under regulated circumstances and to order Parliament to create a legal framework for it.