CCBI News – Benedict—Bioethics, Moral Theology, Conscience; Omicron; Indifference; MAiD-MI

January 13, 2023

Dear Friends of CCBI,

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI – Requiescat in pace!

Pope Benedict’s work as Prefect of the Congregation of the Faith is well known and much of it relates to bioethics in the context of Catholic moral theology, its teaching, and its doctrine. The importance he gave to personal encounter with Jesus Christ, together with his writings on Jesus of Nazareth, are important parts of Christology and the basis of his theology and spirituality.

The moral theology and bioethics emanating from the CDF under his leadership are foundational to Catholic natural law thinking, along with his teaching on conscience. Catholic moral theologians and bioethicists profit greatly from them, for example, his address in Westminster Hall to British parliamentarians has a universal quality in its treatment of human rights, dignity and the right foundations of law and justice, pointing to the gift of conscience and the need to respect and protect it. In this regard he stated:

And there are those who argue – paradoxically with the intention of eliminating discrimination – that Christians in public roles should be required at times to act against their conscience.

These are worrying signs of a failure to appreciate not only the rights of believers to freedom of conscience and freedom of religion, but also the legitimate role of religion in the public square.

Threats to conscience rights are, of course, a grave danger in today’s relativistic thinking, antagonistic to the possibility of there being objective values which judge some actions as inherently wrong. This rejection challenges Catholic moral teaching at its core and is becoming increasingly prevalent, threatening not only the stance, but also those who propose it. The furore over the Catholic family life textbook, Fully Alive, and the publishers’ recent refusal to print it any more is an example of one view of human behaviour being ‘cancelled’ by its opponents. It would seem that even in an era of ‘free choice,’ the topic of sexuality is not deemed open to dialogue or discussion. Catholic teaching is assumed to be wrong and harmful, and therefore should be eliminated. Here we find shades of earlier centuries and ‘book burning,’ and just as primitive! And yet the truth can never be cancelled, despite efforts to do so, and only time will tell how these questions will be resolved.

Omicron Subvariants

Covid-19, its variants and subvariants are not finished yet with us yet. We want them to be finished, but that’s another matter. In an interview broadcast Monday January 2, B.C.’s Provincial Health Officer, Bonnie Henry, told CBC News that officials have not seen the newest subvariant “take off yet,” but subsequent global reporting reveals concerns about the overall effects, which may not be currently severe in Canada. Some global factors such as the arrival of more travellers from, for example, China, where the numbers of seriously ill people are rising at an astonishing rate, could fuel higher numbers. As Dr Henry noted: “It’s not increasing rapidly here but it is one of the subvariants that we know can take off, particularly areas where you have lower vaccination rates.”

An infectious-diseases specialist at the University Health Network in Toronto said it is unsurprising that a new variant is overtaking others to drive the rate of infection upward, but that tools do exist “…to blunt its impact,” namely boosters and returning to mask-wearing. It’s important to be reminded that the vast majority of people being hospitalized by the virus are older than 60, as well as those who are immunocompromised, and seniors who have not had a booster shot in the past six months.

Globe and Mail journalist Andre Picard cites ‘Canadian indifference’ to the dangers that subvariants with unknown effects may present and also points to the low uptake of boosters among seniors. The simple expedients of mask-wearing, avoiding crowded areas, handwashing, arranging boosters will all help, but it’s as if people are tired of hearing ‘the same old,’ or simply ignore the facts of case increases, difficulties in being admitted to hospital, and so on. Protecting those most at risk should be our guiding factor, even if we ourselves think we are somehow immune. Tell that to the viruses!

Euthanasia for People with Mental Illness

While the Attorney-General has at least delayed moving towards allowing euthanasia for people with mental illnesses on the advice of, among others, many psychiatrists, one psychiatrist, Dr Madeline Li, who performs euthanasia procedures and helped to formulate MAID protocols, admitted that there are no proven standards for assessing mentally ill patients for euthanasia, and that it is impossible to know whether a psychiatric diagnosis is irremediable. One would expect her to be an opponent of widening the law, but instead her approach, quoted in a December article in America, is to say that “… it will be up to doctors—with their unconscious biases and imperfect value judgments—to decide which lives are worth living.” I find this statement chilling in the extreme. Why on earth should permission be given to doctors to decide ‘which lives are worth living?’ Society dare not take the dangerous path of leaving that responsibility with doctors, who, as Dr Li says, “… have the same biases and imperfect judgment as everyone else.”

The value of Catholic teaching on the protection of life rests on upholding the objective principle that every life has inherent value, made in the image and likeness of God…period. We can see the value of Pope Benedict’s insistence on maintaining objective standards and the inherent dignity of every human being, and why human life is threatened when inherent dignity is denied, and instead society chooses which life has value and which does not.

Apostolic Journey to the United Kingdom: Meeting with the representatives of British Society, including the Diplomatic Corps, politicians, academics and business leaders at Westminster Hall (City of Westminster, 17 September 2010) | BENEDICT XVI (vatican.va)
Catholic sex-ed textbooks discontinued following accusations of ‘homophobic,’ ‘transphobic’ content (yahoo.com)
https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/2157569603822

The Globe and Mail
B.C. reports five cases of new Omicron subvariant – The Globe and Mail

America Magazine
Canada’s euthanasia regime: How many more will die in the name of ‘compassion’? | America Magazine

Pope Francis’ Intentions for January

For educators
We pray that educators may be credible witnesses, teaching fraternity rather than competition and helping the youngest and most vulnerable above all.

Moira and Bambi