A woman at the center of the right-to-die debate in Italy has been moved to a clinic where she will be allowed to die after 17 years in a vegetative state.
Eluana Englaro was transferred by ambulance overnight to the private facility in the northern city of Udine.
The Vatican and anti-euthanasia groups have strongly opposed the move.
In November, Italy’s highest court ruled Ms Englaro’s feeding tubes could be withdrawn, but the health ministry then warned state clinics not to do it.
On Sunday, Pope Benedict XVI added his voice to the debate about euthanasia, calling it a “false solution” to the tragedy of suffering.
“The true response cannot be to give death, even if it is seemingly more soothing, but to show the love that can help people face pain and agony in a human way,” he said in his weekly address.
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