Accepting medical treatment and the Catholic understanding of Purgatory

Oct. 18, 2026

I had a number of new questions come in this week and here we are going to take a look at the first of them.

What if I decide to decline treatment that would cure a newly diagnosed cancer, that has a high success rate of survival. This could mean that I would maybe die in two years, and only have an additional two years of sins to repent for in purgatory. Whereas, if I accept the treatment and live another 10 -15 years, I would have an additional 10-15 years of sins to repent for in purgatory. I prefer to fast-track my time in purgatory to get to heaven earlier. Is this wrong?

We have here two different issues that need to be addressed. The first is whether or not it is morally acceptable to decline treatment for a disease or illness. The second is in relation to the time to do penance/repentance and purgatory.

When it comes to issue number 1 that deals with treatments for sickness, disease etc.. In the Catechism of the Catholic Church 2278 we find this - “Discontinuing medical procedures that are burdensome, dangerous, extraordinary, or disproportionate to the expected outcome can be legitimate; it is the refusal of ‘over-zealous’ treatment. Here one does not will to cause death; one’s inability to impede it is merely accepted. The decisions should be made by the patient if he is competent, whose reasonable will and legitimate interests must always be respected”.

What this means in relation to the question that stated the treatment could cure the cancer, is that we have to weigh whether this would fall under ordinary means or not. We can look for a clear list of things to be considered in the 1980 and 2025 set of ethical directives from the USCCB – "the type of treatment to be used, its degree of complexity or risk, its cost and the possibilities of using it, and comparing these elements with the result that can be expected, taking into account the state of the sick person and his or her physical and moral resources."

To put it plainly, if the treatment has a reasonable chance of success and we are able to undergo it without undue hardship, we should partake in it. Note this is dealing with things that directly affect life, not with shots or vaccines as those are not directly connected with prolonging life or ending life in the same manner with the same certitude. With those things a person is free to choose whether to receive or not as either way does not directly control whether one lives or dies. With the stipulation that they obviously are sourced in an ethical and moral manner. Whether or not to undergo a treatment directly connected to whether one lives or dies that has a chance of success or to continue life support are what we are dealing with. They directly affect the duration of life.

Question number 2 was the implication that one could get to heaven sooner by having less time in purgatory due to a shorter life meaning there is less possibility for sins. The short answer to this question is – no. Just because one has a shorter life does not necessarily mean one commits less sins. Now if one genuinely did look it at it in that sense, yes, it could be possible to commit less sins due to the simple fact that one has less time, but that is not guaranteed. Even so, the greater issue that we are overlooking is that, while I may have less sins if I refuse the treatment in order to shorten my life and thereby hopefully spend less time in purgatory, I also have less time for atonement for sins previously committed and I would have less time to gain graces, for myself but also for other souls. Meaning less time to pray for the souls in purgatory, less opportunities to go to confession, less opportunities to go to Mass and receive communion, less time for adoration and prayer, less time for charitable works and so on.

Hopefully this helps understand some of these things better.

God love you,

Fr. Anthony