"Signs of Clinical Death" for Organ Transplants

Here is the Message John Paul II sent to the participants in the study session on the "Signs of Death," in the context of transplanting organs from the deceased, organized by the Pontifical Academy of Sciences.

...you have chosen to explore once again, in a serious interdisciplinary study, the particular question of the "signs of death," on the basis of which a person's clinical death can be established with moral certainty, in order to proceed with the removal of organs for transplant.

I wish to assure you that your efforts are laudable and will certainly be of assistance to the competent Dicasteries of the Apostolic See -- especially the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith -- which will not fail to ponder the results of your reflection, and then to offer the necessary clarifications for the good of the community, in particular that of the patients and the specialists who are called to dedicate their professional expertise to the service of life.

Full Message text is here.