 Pius XII delivered numerous speeches to medical professionals and researchers . He addressed doctors , nurses , midwives , to detail all aspects of rights and dignity of patients , medical responsibilities , moral implications of psychological illnesses and the uses of psycho pharmaca . He also took on issues like the uses of medicine in terminally ill persons , medical lies in face of grave illness , and the rights of family members to make decisions against expert medical advice . Pope Pius XII often reconsidered previously accepted truth , thus he was first to determine that the use of pain medicine in terminally ill patients is justified , even if this may shorten the life of the patient , as long as life shortening is not the objective itself . 
