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CV NEWS FEED // As a bill to legalize assisted suicide is set to be introduced in Parliament this week, Catholic bishops in the United Kingdom are warning of the grave dangers posed by euthanasia and assisted suicide.
This legislation “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,” wrote Cardinal Vincent Nichols, archbishop of Westminster, in an October 10 pastoral letter.
He emphasized that God has given life as a gift, and quoted from the Book of Job that “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”
The Catholic Church teaches that euthanasia and suicide are grave evils and are never morally permissible.
In his pastoral letter, the Cardinal further explained that although the bill will likely have boundaries and limitations in place for when assisted suicide would be permissible, the evidence from countries that have already legalized the practice have shown that the boundaries are eventually widened.
“What is now proposed will not be the end of the story,” he wrote. “It is a story better not begun.”
Cardinal Nichols also expressed concern in an ITV News interview published October 11 that legalizing assisted suicide will put pressure on vulnerable people to choose this option.
“I think it brings such fear to people who might feel vulnerable that sooner or later they will be expected to take this step,” he said. “The right to die can quickly become a duty to die.”
He had addressed this same concern in the pastoral letter, explaining that such pressure could come from oneself or others, “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.”
He urged the faithful to write to their Member of Parliament (MP), to pray, and to talk with family, friends, and others about the legislation.
Speaking about this in the ITV News interview, Cardinal Nichols said, “I think it’s important that MPs hear not just the headlines of campaigning groups, but the heartfelt concerns, fears and beliefs of people whom they represent.”
Bishop Mark Davies of Shrewsbury also wrote a pastoral letter about the bill that was set to be read at churches during Mass across his diocese this weekend, according to the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales. In the letter, he also urges citizens to voice their concerns to their MPs.
“This is not the kind of society in which we would wish to grow old or become vulnerable,” he wrote:
If medical professionals, now sworn to protect the lives of patients, become those who assist in killing and suicide, how will our relationship change to those we look to for help and care? This is, indeed, a dark and sinister path on which we could be embarking before Christmas 2024.
According to the bishops, the bill is set to be introduced on October 16.
