From Fr Greg's Desk: Sunday 15th August

 

Hi everyone! Hope you are all well! The weather this last week has been spectacularly good, considering it is winter, and I hope you have made the most of it. The cold weather is coming!

Euthanasia Bill being considered in NSW Parliament.

The whole area of 'assisted suicide' or 'euthanasia', as it is called, is a topic few people like to discuss, but it is one which could affect all of us sooner or later. It has become a point of contention for many people in our social circles and media as to why the Catholic Church should so persistently oppose such a bill being legislated for our citizens, if someone should voluntarily choose this option and request the assistance of medical professionals to die. It is important that all of us be well informed as to what these objections are, as all of us at some stage or another could well face a similar situation either personally or with regards to family, friends and acquaintances.

No one relishes the thought of accompanying the terminally ill through this difficult stage of their life and the suffering and sadness associated with it. Nevertheless the 'alternative' being proposed, of legally 'assisted suicide' or 'euthanasia', is a particularly problematic one to legislate for, and is fraught with its own set of real risks for all concerned, but particularly for the vulnerable, the mentally ill, and the elderly. That this new Bill should be pushed forward only four years after a similar Bill was rejected by our NSW Parliament is very sad indeed; that it should be proposed in its present form with the omission of key protections to protect the vulnerable is all the more disturbing.

I have reprinted a helpful article sent to me by one of our parishioners, which summarises a number of objections being raised by Catholic and Christian voices to the proposed Euthanasi Bill recently introduced to NSW Parliament and which will be voted on in weeks to come. I think it will do you a world of good to read through them and consider them for yourselves. The article highlights the fact that under this new Euthanasia Bill: A) the independence and specialist experience required of doctors signing off on a patient's death would be significantly reduced, B) there would be no need to meet or physically examine the patient concerned, nor for qualified psychologists or psychiatrists to assess their state of mental health, beforehand; C) conscientious objection by doctors or institutions to take part would be scrapped; D) the minimum age for patients requesting to die would be reduced to a mere 18 years of age; E) no mention of palliative care options by health professionals would be required to be proffered;F) the recording of audio visual requests where the patient could not sign or needed a translator would no longer be required; F) there will be fewer protections for patient being killed, and greater protections for doctors doing it; and G) coronial reporting of euthanasia and assisted suicide would no longer be required. Wow. That is a long list of problematic omissions in the current Bill.

You might also like to read a series of fifteen articles written by Australian authors in opposition to the introduction of legally assisted suicide. They include indigenous leaders (Pat Dodson), disability activists (Stella Young), journalists (Paul Kelly), human rights lawyers, (Julian McMahon), academics (Richard Stith, Kevin Yuill), former and serving politicians (Paul Keating, John Anderson, Lindsay Tanner and Dominic Perrottet), palliative care physicians (Adrian Dabscheck), oncologists (Ian Haines), psychiatrists (John Buchanan) and medical organisations (American College of Physicians, World Medical Association). You can find it by pasting the following web address into your internet browser: https://www.australiancarealliance.org.au/why_i_am_opposed.

Incidentally, they concude that "from this diversity of perspectives there emerges a common view that legalising assisted suicide or euthanasia can never be done safely", In the eloquent words of our former Prime Minister Paul Keating, the very act of legislating it is premised on a decision that "there will be people whose lives we honour and those we believe are better off dead". Again, a very helpful set of articles to inform yourselves well about the fundamental issues associated with this debate.

Incidentally, that previous Euthanasia Bill, known as the '2017 Khan Bill', was rejected outright back then, and did not even make it through to the Lower House. I am appalled and flabbergasted that a new proposal from Alex Greenwich MP is being tabled so soon after the first was rejected, and which goes way beyond the first in its audacity, having conveniently removed many of the 'safeguards' to protect the vulnerable which were included in the 2017 attempt. You will find the article on the opposite page, titled: "Alex Greenwich Thinks These Protections Are Unnecessary".

No one doubts the complexity and the emotionally charged nature of this topic, particularly when it comes to accompanying the terminally ill and the chronically diseased or depressed. Our hearts go out to everyone who finds themselves immersed in difficult scenarios such as these, and to those who care for them. Humane palliative care and mental health options do exist. However, without a serious attempt at making them both available and financially accessible to all, as an alternative, with the appropriate pain management and duty of care of terminally ill patients, it is cynical that such a law be proposed as the only viable legislative solution.

These are some of the reasons why I wrote to you in past Bulletins requesting you seriously consider signing petitions and writing to your local MP's in opposition to the present Bill being introduced to the NSW Legislative Council. If you haven't done so already, then I urge you to do so while there is still time.

Parishioners Contact Details Update

On another note, during this lockdown we've realised first hand just how vital it is for the Priests of the Parish to have an up-to-date register of the contact details of all active parishioners in RGCP. With our Churches temporarily closed, and no end in sight of the current lockdown, we want to offer a more individualised pastoral service to you, but we are hampered by not being able to easily identify those who are 'active' in our Register and those who are not. There currently exist about 3000 names on the one we have(!!) extending back over many years since it was first initiated.

Hence we ask you all to confirm or renew your contact details (especially current phone numbers, email and residential addresses) with us to help us assist you with your pastoral needs. It would help us greatly if you could do that for us. The form can be found at https://forms.gle/EwmX8CQu2QLTnupJ7 (you can also go to the website and hit the button 'Parishioners Details Update Form') and it should take you no more than ten minutes to complete the form, but it will save me and our office a lot of time in contacting you as the need arises. I thank you in advance for your help in helping us to help you.

New Sandstone Steps at St. Charles

Finally, the new sandstone paving has been put in and sealed on the steps leading to SCB Church from Victoria Road, as well as the pathway leading from the Parish Office to the side door. It is one of the works we were able to complete during the lockdown period, and I think you will agree that it looks very nice indeed!

And that's about it for now. God bless, and take good care of yourselves and of those in your keeping. And please get yourselves vaccinated as soon as you possibly can, to help get us out of this COVID lockdown as soon as possible and get back to our normal worship and Sunday services.


Your brother in Christ's love,


Fr. Greg