Healthcare Directive

Make Your Wishes Known: Essential Resources for End-of-Life Decisions

Ensuring your healthcare decisions are respected when you cannot speak for yourself is crucial. Minnesota Catholic Conference has developed two resources—Minnesota Catholic Health Care Directive and Guide to End-of-Life Decisions—to help you prepare and make morally sound healthcare decisions in alignment with Catholic teachings.

Minnesota Catholic Health Care Directive

About the Directive: “Health Care Directives: A Catholic Perspective” answers common questions while guiding you through completing a health care directive. This booklet also includes the Minnesota Catholic Health Care Directive that meets state legal requirements and reflects Catholic teachings. In addition, the Single Page Front & Back document contains the same Minnesota Catholic Health Care Directive but in a simpler format.

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Guide to End-of-Life Care Decisions

About the Guide: This guide provides an ethical primer on making medical decisions regarding life-sustaining treatments within the Catholic Tradition. It supplements the “Health Care Directives: A Catholic Perspective,” offering clear, concise information to aid in morally sound decision-making during serious illness.

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Download the Guide to End-of-Life Care Decisions PDF:

Spanish Resources

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Preguntas Frecuentes

How to complete your Catholic Health Care Directive

Additional Information

Download our flyer to advertise these important resources in your parish. 

POLST Forms (en español)

We recommend the Minnesota Catholic Health Care Directive as a meaningful alternative to POLST forms. 

POLST forms (in Minnesota, “Provider Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment”) are becoming increasingly discussed in our state and nationwide, particularly for patients in long-term care settings or with terminal illnesses. While we understand the rationale for POLST, and though the Minnesota form is preferable to that in some other states, we believe that there are sufficient and significant ethical concerns that argue against its use for advance care planning. View the following links for more information on these concerns.

2013: A Pastoral Statement on Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST)

2017: Response to MMA revisions of the Provider Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST) form

2021: Letter to MMA regarding POLST changes

Guide to Completing the POLST Form - National Catholic Bioethics Center

For consultation requests, questions regarding the Church’s teaching on bioethical issues, guidance in moral decision-making, or for other matters to be directed to an NCBC ethicist, email [email protected]. In emergency situations, an NCBC ethicist is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week by calling 215-877-2660. NCBC ethicists do not provide legal or medical advice.

Parish Presentations

Parishes and organizations can present the guide without needing permission and may bring in their own speakers to do so. However, listed below are speakers approved by each diocese to give presentations on the guides and end-of-life matters, in general. It is customary to provide speakers with honoraria for their time and any associated expenses.

Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis

Diocese of Winona:

Diocese of St. Cloud:

Diocese of New Ulm:

Catholic Cemeteries: Funeral Planning and Cemetery

Pre-planning your funeral and cemetery arrangements is a loving gesture that ensures your wishes are known, alleviating stress on your loved ones during a difficult time. Catholic Cemeteries family services counselors are trained to assist you in this important task.

For more information on pre-planning your funeral options and cemetery, visit The Catholic Cemeteries website.

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