A top Vatican bioethical official condemned Tuesday Brittany Maynard's decision to end her own life, saying there is no dignity in assisted suicide and the act is in and of itself reprehensible.

Monsignor Ignacio Carrasco de Paula, who heads the Pontifical Academy for Life, told Italian news media ANSA that Maynard's decision to die on her own terms rather than succumb to terminal brain cancer is an absurdity.

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"Dignity is something other than putting an end to one's own life," he said without meaning to pass judgment against the dying-with-dignity advocate who took lethal prescription drugs on Saturday at her home in Oregon.

The Vatican think-tank on issues concerning life said Maynard, 29, chose to end her life believing she was dying with dignity.

"But this is a mistake," de Paula said, adding that assisted suicide is a dangerous option as it opens avenues for creating a solution for a society that refuses to deal with the consequences of terminal medical conditions.

Maynard has made a series of public declarations announcing her plan to take her life. She was diagnosed in January with a rare brain cancer and has since become the frontrunner of the right-to-die movement.

She moved to Oregon earlier this year to have access to the state's Death with Dignity Act which supports assisted suicide for the terminally ill following a prognosis that gave her only six months to live.

Maynard penned a lengthy letter earlier this year outlining her reasons for choosing death while leaving her insightful footprints in the minds of those who believed in her cause.    

In an interview with CBS in October, Maynard said her decision must not be considered a suicide. It was cancer that was ending her life and her choice to die earlier was an attempt at reducing the pain and suffering brought on by the disease. 

Maynard's choice essentially runs against the grain of the Catholic Church's teaching supporting life and opposing euthanasia and other unnatural causes of death.

TagsVatican, Brittany Maynard, assisted suicide, Monsignor Ignacio Carrasco de Paula, Death with Dignity Act, Oregon, right-to-die movement