The Vatican has reaffirmed its stance that voluntary euthanasia and medically assisted suicide are “intrinsically evil” and should be regarded as a “crime against human life”.

On Tuesday, its doctrinal watchdog, known as the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, issued a new 25-page statement covering end-of-life care, ranging from futile treatments to palliative care and assisted dying.

But it also takes aim at what it claims is abuse of Do Not Resuscitate orders.

With the Catholic Church’s teaching based on the claim that human life must be defended from conception until its natural death, the statement insists that “extraordinary” care can be suspended for those chronically ill or in persistent vegetative states if it is no longer beneficial or is only prolonging a precarious and painful life.