Catholics should use their votes at the forthcoming General Election to stop assisted suicide and euthanasia becoming law, the Bishop of Shrewsbury has said.
In a statement to the faithful of his diocese, Bishop Mark Davies described so-called “assisted dying” as a central issue of the July 4th poll.
He urged Catholics to question all prospective parliamentary candidates about their position before they cast their vote.
Bishop Davies warned the faithful that the lives of the weak and the vulnerable, and the integrity of medical ethics were at stake.
He said: “Opening the doors to euthanasia would change the medical and nursing professions in their relationship to the sick and the aged; distort the way the sick and the elderly are viewed in society when it is less costly to kill rather than to care; put intolerable pressures on the sick and the aged who are made to feel a burden; and advance a culture of death which has extended to more and more people in countries where euthanasia has been adopted, even extending to the mentally ill and to children.”
Bishop Davies said: “At least one party leader has indicated that he will proactively make parliamentary time available for a change in the law to be considered that will remove many of the legal safeguards which have long protected some of the most vulnerable members of our society.”
He added: “In making your choice on 4th July I would ask you to raise this question with the candidates who seek your support.
“If candidates are not easily contactable, then the Right to Life website may help: <a href="http://righttolife.org.uk/">righttolife.org.uk</a>. May our choice be made in the light of the sanctity of human life.”
The Bishop of Shrewsbury has consistently spoken against efforts to change the law to permit doctors to help to kill their patients.
At Midnight Mass at Christmas last year, Bishop Davies denounced the “deadly agenda” at odds with the Christian moral inheritance that was again being driven forward.
Bishop Davies will say it is “especially sinister” that the euthanasia lobby should exploit the Christmas season to contradict Christian morality.
“Christianity led us to care for the weakest and most vulnerable,” said Bishop Davies in a homily at Shrewsbury Cathedral, "[whereas] euthanasia proposes a new morality where the light of Christ no longer guides us”.
The Bishop’s stark rejection of euthanasia and assisted suicide came as activists sought to exploit the announcement by Dame Esther Rantzen, a television presenter and foundress of Childline, the anti-bullying and anti-abuse charity, that she had joined Dignitas, the assisted suicide clinic in Switzerland, and might wish to end her life there if treatment for stage four lung cancer fails.
Her statement led to activists and some politicians suggesting that the 1961 Suicide Act, under which assisted suicide may be punished by up to 14 years in jail, should be abolished or amended so doctors can assist in the suicides of some of their patients without fear of prosecution.
Soon afterwards Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has said he will permit parliamentary time for a so-called “assisted dying” Bill to be debated because he believed “there are grounds for changing the law”.
In his statement, which was dated June 5, Bishop Davies also included the text of a letter written by Bishop Philip Egan of Portsmouth to the Catholics of Guernsey, warning them of the grave dangers posed by the campaign to legalise euthanasia there.
Called, <em>Your Life and Your Well-being are Under Threat</em>, Bishop Egan offered four reasons why assisted suicide and euthanasia are “gravely morally wrong”.
He said such practices would place an intolerable and immoral demand on medical staff, doctors and nurses; would undermine or destroy palliative care services, and would place unbearable pressure on the sick and elderly to agree to their premature death.
Bishop Egan also pointed out that where assisted suicide and euthanasia have been legalised “the legislation gradually keeps creeping forward, expanding to cover more and more categories: sick children, people with autism, those with dementia, the depressed, the mentally ill, the handicapped and others whose lives someone else decides are not worth living”.
Bishop Egan said: “In Canada, almost five per cent of deaths are now by lethal injection. Recently, I read about a Canadian doctor boasting that she had helped hundreds and hundreds of people to die: she said it was the ‘most rewarding work she had ever done’. This is chilling stuff.”
Bishop Mark's full statement can be read <a href="https://www.dioceseofshrewsbury.org/statement-on-the-general-election-from-bishop-mark-davies/"><strong>here</strong></a>
<em>(Bishop Mark Davies | © Mazur/cbcew.org.uk)</em>
Catholics should use their votes at the forthcoming General Election to stop assisted suicide and euthanasia becoming law, the Bishop of Shrewsbury has said.
In a statement to the faithful of his diocese, Bishop Mark Davies described so-called “assisted dying” as a central issue of the July 4th poll.
He urged Catholics to question all prospective parliamentary candidates about their position before they cast their vote.
Bishop Davies warned the faithful that the lives of the weak and the vulnerable, and the integrity of medical ethics were at stake.
He said: “Opening the doors to euthanasia would change the medical and nursing professions in their relationship to the sick and the aged; distort the way the sick and the elderly are viewed in society when it is less costly to kill rather than to care; put intolerable pressures on the sick and the aged who are made to feel a burden; and advance a culture of death which has extended to more and more people in countries where euthanasia has been adopted, even extending to the mentally ill and to children.”
Bishop Davies said: “At least one party leader has indicated that he will proactively make parliamentary time available for a change in the law to be considered that will remove many of the legal safeguards which have long protected some of the most vulnerable members of our society.”
He added: “In making your choice on 4th July I would ask you to raise this question with the candidates who seek your support.
“If candidates are not easily contactable, then the Right to Life website may help: <a href="http://righttolife.org.uk/">righttolife.org.uk</a>. May our choice be made in the light of the sanctity of human life.”
The Bishop of Shrewsbury has consistently spoken against efforts to change the law to permit doctors to help to kill their patients.
At Midnight Mass at Christmas last year, Bishop Davies denounced the “deadly agenda” at odds with the Christian moral inheritance that was again being driven forward.
Bishop Davies will say it is “especially sinister” that the euthanasia lobby should exploit the Christmas season to contradict Christian morality.
“Christianity led us to care for the weakest and most vulnerable,” said Bishop Davies in a homily at Shrewsbury Cathedral, "[whereas] euthanasia proposes a new morality where the light of Christ no longer guides us”.
The Bishop’s stark rejection of euthanasia and assisted suicide came as activists sought to exploit the announcement by Dame Esther Rantzen, a television presenter and foundress of Childline, the anti-bullying and anti-abuse charity, that she had joined Dignitas, the assisted suicide clinic in Switzerland, and might wish to end her life there if treatment for stage four lung cancer fails.
Her statement led to activists and some politicians suggesting that the 1961 Suicide Act, under which assisted suicide may be punished by up to 14 years in jail, should be abolished or amended so doctors can assist in the suicides of some of their patients without fear of prosecution.
Soon afterwards Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has said he will permit parliamentary time for a so-called “assisted dying” Bill to be debated because he believed “there are grounds for changing the law”.
In his statement, which was dated June 5, Bishop Davies also included the text of a letter written by Bishop Philip Egan of Portsmouth to the Catholics of Guernsey, warning them of the grave dangers posed by the campaign to legalise euthanasia there.
Called, <em>Your Life and Your Well-being are Under Threat</em>, Bishop Egan offered four reasons why assisted suicide and euthanasia are “gravely morally wrong”.
He said such practices would place an intolerable and immoral demand on medical staff, doctors and nurses; would undermine or destroy palliative care services, and would place unbearable pressure on the sick and elderly to agree to their premature death.
Bishop Egan also pointed out that where assisted suicide and euthanasia have been legalised “the legislation gradually keeps creeping forward, expanding to cover more and more categories: sick children, people with autism, those with dementia, the depressed, the mentally ill, the handicapped and others whose lives someone else decides are not worth living”.
Bishop Egan said: “In Canada, almost five per cent of deaths are now by lethal injection. Recently, I read about a Canadian doctor boasting that she had helped hundreds and hundreds of people to die: she said it was the ‘most rewarding work she had ever done’. This is chilling stuff.”
Bishop Mark's full statement can be read <a href="https://www.dioceseofshrewsbury.org/statement-on-the-general-election-from-bishop-mark-davies/"><strong>here</strong></a>
<em>(Bishop Mark Davies | © Mazur/cbcew.org.uk)</em>
