CCBI News: Resources—End-of-Life Care; The Register—Slippery Slope/MAiD/Babies/Consent; USMC Theology—Peripheries

November 4, 2022

Dear Friends of CCBI,

Archdiocese of Toronto Website: Help Foster a Culture of Life!

A new addition to the Archdiocesan website is Help Foster a Culture of Life! It lists several resources on palliative and end-of-life care as well as information about developments in euthanasia and assisted suicide. It encourages participation in the No Options No Choice campaign sponsored by the Christian Medical and Dental Society and promises to keep readers informed of this and future campaigns and events. Good news!

It also lists Horizons of Hope, a program developed by the CCCB on palliative and end-of-life care from a Catholic perspective, currently underway in the Archdiocese of Toronto under the auspices of Catholic Charities led by Michael Fullan and team, including CCBI. This program endeavours to be as positive as possible about the subject of health and spiritual care at the end-of-life in light of Catholic teaching on the dignity of every human being. It also aims to provide a forum for discussion of these naturally occurring events and to encourage individuals or groups of parishioners to take action in some way that will help foster the culture of life – so vital for our society and in responding to deep inroads made by proponents of euthanasia.  

If you are interested in sponsoring this program, please contact Catholic Charities or CCBI. The CCCB has an excellent website featuring the program, also listed below.

The Catholic Register

The Editorial in the October 23^rd edition of The Catholic Register called attention to the ‘slippery slope’ involved in progressive (as in time, not merit!) legislation on euthanasia and assisted suicide and, as the editorial words it, “…from making to MAiDing babies.” It quotes CCBI’s warnings about this and other current steps, as well as CCBI’s major concern that the principle of consent is being eroded, apparently without much controversy in society. Law professor Trudo Lemmens is a rare opponent of these steps on legal and moral grounds, and perhaps his standing in the legal world will have some impact. He coauthored an article in 2021 before Bill C-7 was passed, saying among other things: “The least we would expect is that the new bill explicitly confirms that MAiD is an irreversible last-resort option when all other reasonable options available according to the standard of care have failed.” Although I disagree with MAiD as an ‘option’ – period! – this view at least goes some way in calling for restrictions on the extension of MAiD.

A view I have expressed before is that from the beginning, unfortunately, there has been a driven agenda to have MAiD seen as simply one choice at end-of-life on a spectrum of choices which includes palliative care as one of the ‘options.’ This is not really new, then, but is becoming clearer in Canada’s current legislative approach: just about everything is on the table; no one ‘choice’ is any more or any less moral or right; everyone has the right to choose any option on the spectrum. This is a mirror-image of our approach to abortion in Canada. When a woman decides to have the procedure on the basis of ‘choice,’ no one has the right to veto it, as far as I can tell. The Catholic Register is correct in saying that we are well down that same path in our current approach to euthanasia and assisted suicide. Troubling! Please see the new page on the Archdiocese of Toronto’s website (below) and support the No Options, No Choice campaign. It’s well named.

Queen Elizabeth Set Many Good Examples, Including Dying at Home (Albeit a Castle!) 

An English palliative care consultant has written an article advocating for home-based palliative care where possible, looking to the example of the death of Queen Elizabeth II. He asked, “If a death at home is good enough for the Queen, is it achievable for all if us?” Good point! I believe most of our Popes have also died ‘at home’, i.e., in the Vatican, and although this is not a negative comment on dying in hospitals or other healthcare centres, it points to the simplicity and fittingness of our last days being spent as peacefully as possible in familiar settings surrounded by familiar faces. While recognizing this is not always possible, there is an increasing tendency to see that where it can be done, it should be encouraged and made possible, if necessary aided by community services. 

The consultant also warns against painting an overly ‘rosy’ picture of dying at home. He reminds us: “However, for the thousands of people in the UK with no fixed abode, for those living in an abusive household, or for those who simply don’t know how to navigate the healthcare system to access specialist palliative care services, a death at home could be the worst death imaginable.” This balanced approach applies in Canada, too, and we owe it to people to reassure them that if they do not have a stable home life then dying in a hospital or hospice would clearly be more appropriate to need. He reminded us: “A good death can be achieved in many settings and that is something we see every day in palliative care.” The bottom line is that we need to advocate for more palliative care, of all types!

Doing Theology from the Peripheries

Finally, we include a notice of an important event about to take place at the University of St Michael’s College, Doing Theology from the Peripheries. Everyone is invited to participate in the livestream, and although bioethical topics may not be discussed, CCBI is trying to encourage more synodal-type method in any area of Catholic theology and teaching where people can bring their concerns to the table and have a ‘voice.’

Help Foster a Culture of Life (mailchi.mp)
Horizons of Hope: A Toolkit for Catholic Parishes on Palliative Care – Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (cccb.ca)
How Bill C-7 will sacrifice the medical profession’s Standard of Care (irpp.org)
If a death at home is good enough for the Queen, is it achievable for all of us? – ehospice
USMC Theology:   Doing Theology from the Peripheries – Livestream Tickets, Thu, 10 Nov 2022 at 7:00 PM | Eventbrite – The University of St. Michael’s College invites you to a key event in Pope Francis’s Synod on Synodality process. Please register in advance

Pope Francis’ Intention for November

Children Who Suffer
We pray for children who are suffering, especially those who are homeless, orphans, and victims of war; may they be guaranteed access to education and the opportunity to experience family affection.

Moira and Bambi