The head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales has issued a pastoral letter on assisted suicide to be read in the churches of the Archdiocese of Westminster to ensure Catholics are aware of the gravity of what is at stake.
The <a href="https://www.cbcew.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/10/241013-Pastoral-Letter-VN-Assisted-Suicide.pdf"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">letter</mark></a> by Cardinal Vincent Nichols, President of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales (CBCEW) and Archbishop of Westminster, which will be read on the weekend of 12-13 October, will address the private members' Bill on assisted suicide that will be introduced to the UK's House of Commons on Wednesday 16 October 2024.
One of the fundamental concerns surrounding this Bill is that it will give a person of sound will and mind the right to end their life.
In addition to this clarion call coming from the "top man" in the Catholic Church in England and Wales – the cardinal has also reiterated key points from the letter in a sequence of posts on social media platform <em>X</em> – there is the fact that the House of Commons is located within the Archdiocese of Westminster. It is likely that some who hear the pastoral letter during Mass at the weekend will be involved in the House of Commons or be connected to people working there.
"We know, only too well, that suffering can bring people to a most dreadful state of mind, even driving them to take their own lives, in circumstances most often when they lack true freedom of mind and will, and so bear no culpability," the cardinal says.
"But this proposed legislation is quite different. It seeks to give a person of sound will and mind the right to act in a way that is clearly contrary to a fundamental truth: our life is not our own possession, to dispose of as we feel fit. This is not a freedom of choice we can take for ourselves without undermining the foundations of trust and shared dignity on which a stable society rests."
Cardinal Nicholas offers three key points that Catholics should be aware of, and calls on the faithful to be fully engaged in the debate and to write to their MP to oppose assisted suicide being rushed into law.
The first point addresses the inevitable sinister mushrooming effect and "mission creep" of such legislation.
"The evidence from every single country in which such a law has been passed is clear," says Cardinal Nichols. "That the circumstances in which the taking of a life is permitted are widened and widened, making assisted suicide and medical killing, or euthanasia, more and more available and accepted.
"This proposed change in the law may be a source of relief to some. But it will bring great fear and trepidation to many, especially those who have vulnerabilities and those living with disabilities.
"What is now proposed will not be the end of the story. It is a story better not begun."
The Cardinal's second key point examines how removing legislation that <em>prohibits</em> an action in favour of introducing a law that <em>permits</em> an action (that was previously prohibited) has inevitable further consequences by changing societal attitudes; whereby that which is permitted is often and easily encouraged, and hence a “ right to die” can become a “duty to die”.
"Once assisted suicide is approved by the law, a key protection of human life falls away,” the cardinal says.
"Pressure mounts on those who are nearing death, from others or even from themselves, to end their life in order to take away a perceived burden of care from their family, for the avoidance of pain, or for the sake of an inheritance.
"I know that, for many people, there is profound fear at the prospect of prolonged suffering and loss of dignity. Yet such suffering itself can be eased. Part of this debate, then, must be the need and duty to enhance palliative care and hospice provision, so that there can genuinely be, for all of us, the prospect of living our last days in the company of loved ones and caring medical professionals. This is truly dying with dignity."
He adds: "The radical change in the law now being proposed risks bringing about for all medical professionals a slow change from a duty to care to a duty to kill." <br><br>His third point is that being forgetful of God, and how He has bestowed life on us all, belittles our humanity. For people of faith, our life flows from God and is a gift of the Creator, while, as Cardinal Nichols emphasises, suffering is an intrinsic part of our human journey:
"The questions raised by this bill go to the very heart of how we understand ourselves, our lives, our humanity," he says. "Every human being is made in the image and likeness of God. That is the source of our dignity and it is unique to the human person. The suffering of a human being is not meaningless. It does not destroy that dignity."
The cardinal finishes his letter by emphasising that this is not a debate that starts and ends next week – hence he asks Catholics to play an active part in the conversation in the coming months.
"Have discussions with family, friends and colleagues. And pray," he says. "Please remember: be careful what you wish for; the right to die can become a duty to die; being forgetful of God belittles our humanity."
The cardinal's comments follow a similar warning given by the Rt Rev. Philip Egan, Bishop of Portsmouth, considered to be one of the most dynamic voices in the Catholic Church across the British Isles.
<a href="https://catholicherald.co.uk/bishop-egan-urges-catholics-to-mobilise-against-sinister-assisted-suicide-bill/?swcfpc=1"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color"><strong><em>RELATED: Bishop Egan urges Catholics to mobilise against ‘sinister’ assisted suicide Bill</em></strong></mark></a>
<em>Photo: Cardinal Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster, speaks at a vigil outside Westminster Abbey, London, England, 24 June 2017. The vigil followed a terror attack on Westminster in which five people, including the assailant, were killed. (Photo by Jack Taylor/Getty Images.)</em>
