By CatholicVote | Created at 2024-11-18 20:41:05 | Updated at 2024-11-21 12:38:36
2 days ago
CV NEWS FEED // The Catholic bishops of the United Kingdom, Wales, and Scotland have issued a joint statement emphasizing their opposition to assisted suicide, a deadly practice that the UK Parliament is going to debate legalizing at the end of the month.
The bishops of the UK, Wales, and Scotland stated November 15 that “genuine compassion is under threat because of the attempts in Parliament to legalise assisted suicide.”
They defined “compassion” as “enter[ing] into and [sharing] the suffering of another person,” as well as “never giving up on anyone or abandoning them.”
Compassion means to love and accompany persons who are suffering, even when it is difficult, until their natural death, the bishops stated.
While assisted suicide often is supported in the name of exercising one’s right to bodily autonomy, the bishops pointed out that this right is not absolute.
Cardinal Vincent Nichols, the archbishop of Westminster, explained in a previous pastoral letter on assisted suicide that life is a gift from God, and that “life is not our own possession, to dispose of as we feel fit.”
The Catholic Church holds that euthanasia, suicide, and assisted suicide are all grave evils and can never be morally permissible. As the United Kingdom Parliament is set to consider a bill that would legalize assisted suicide in the country, the Catholic bishops of the UK have been continuously vocal in their opposition to it.
This most recent statement, bolstered by the support of the Catholic spiritual leaders in Wales and Scotland, emphasizes the importance of good palliative care and pastoral support for those nearing the end of their life.
“People who are suffering need to know they are loved and valued,” the bishops stated. “They need compassionate care, not assistance to end their lives.”
The bishops stated that investing more in hospice and palliative care is the way to uphold the dignity of persons.
“Life is a gift to be protected, especially when threatened by sickness and death,” they stated. “Palliative care, with expert pain relief, and good human, spiritual, and pastoral support, is the right and best way to care for people towards the end of life.”
Legalizing assisted suicide would also undermine patient and physician relationships, they warned. They posited that it may also result in physicians being pressured to recommend or perform assisted suicides. Further, for those who are vulnerable or feel they are a burden to others, they may experience implicit or explicit pressure to die by assisted suicide.
The protection of the elderly, the infirm, and those who have disabilities, the bishops stated, “is the foundation of civilised society. It is at the heart of good government.”
They urged citizens to contact their members of Parliament and urge them to reject the assisted suicide bill.
Members of Parliament will have five hours November 29 to debate the bill, as CatholicVote previously reported.
The bishops concluded by calling for prayers: “Please pray that the dignity of human life will be protected and defended. On the cross, Christ united Himself to every form of human suffering and every person who suffers. In Him, life is changed, not ended. He shows us, in His own crucified and risen body, that love is always stronger than death.”
