Archive for tag: euthanasia

Archive pour tag : euthanasia

One of Canada’s leading supporters of Medical Assistance in Dying is in favour of an anti-MAiD campaign launched by the Christian Medical and Dental Association of Canada and backed by Ontario’s bishops.
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Posted: Nov. 11, 2022 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=12887
Categories: Catholic RegisterIn this article: euthanasia, physician assisted suicide
Transmis : 11 nov. 2022 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=12887
Catégorie : Catholic RegisterDans cet article : euthanasia, physician assisted suicide

Evidence is mounting that assisted suicide’s introduction into the Canadian medical system is not only undermining governments’ oft-stated plans to improve palliative care but is actively damaging the country’s already inadequate palliative care system. Some patients are choosing to die rather than to continue to live without adequate palliative care.

Dr. Neil Hilliard, a palliative care expert from Abbotsford, British Columbia, said health facilities’ introduction of assisted suicide into palliative care wards and hospices, following legalization of Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) in June 2016, has led to a reduction in true palliative cares services.

“It’s like a cancer growing within the palliative care programs,” said Hilliard who, in 2017, resigned as medical director of the Fraser Health Authority’s palliative care program because of his opposition to the authority’s insistence that he support the performing of assisted suicide in hospices.

“(MAiD) is starting to take over to a certain degree. But still only 5% of people are choosing MAiD; 95% would prefer to live well until they die naturally.”
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Posted: May 21, 2022 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=11262
Categories: NewsIn this article: Canada, euthanasia, palliative care, physician assisted suicide
Transmis : 21 mai 2022 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=11262
Catégorie : NewsDans cet article : Canada, euthanasia, palliative care, physician assisted suicide

The bishops of Alberta and the Northwest Territories have issued pastoral guidelines for clergy dealing with Catholics who are considering euthanasia or assisted suicide, which is now legal in Canada.

The 32-page document, written for priests and parishes, gives guidance on when people in such situations are eligible to receive certain sacraments or a Catholic funeral. It includes references to canon law and pastoral guidance for special circumstances.

The document specifically addresses the sacraments of reconciliation and anointing of the sick.

“In our day a priest may encounter a penitent who has officially requested physician-assisted suicide or euthanasia,” the document says. “The penitent has not yet been killed, nor has he/she committed suicide, but he or she has initiated the process, which is already a grave matter.

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Posted: Sept. 20, 2016 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=9568
Categories: CNSIn this article: Alberta, Canada, Catholic, euthanasia, pastoral care, physician assisted suicide
Transmis : 20 sept. 2016 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=9568
Catégorie : CNSDans cet article : Alberta, Canada, Catholic, euthanasia, pastoral care, physician assisted suicide

The Roman Catholic Bishops of Alberta and the Northwest Territories have issued some new guidance for priests, deacons, and pastoral workers in caring for individuals and families in difficult contemporary situations. One document aims to answer the call of Pope Francis in his Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia, particularly to assist priests in their duty to accompany those Catholics who are divorced and remarried without having received a decree of nullity. The other follows the legalization in Canada of assisted suicide and euthanasia (“Medical Assistance In Dying”), and focuses on spiritual and sacramental considerations in caring for individuals and families who may be considering death by these means. “The ultimate aim of these guidelines is to help the faithful understand the beautiful teachings of the Church on sacramental marriage, the dignity of the human person, and the inviolable sanctity of human life,” said Archbishop Richard Smith of Edmonton, who serves as president of the Alberta-NWT Bishops. “We know that many Catholics, often due to the messages they receive through the secular culture, have come to some serious misunderstandings around life and family issues,” he said.
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Posted: Sept. 14, 2016 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=9523
Categories: NewsIn this article: bishops, Catholic, divorce & remarriage, eucharist, euthanasia, pastoral care, physician assisted suicide
Transmis : 14 sept. 2016 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=9523
Catégorie : NewsDans cet article : bishops, Catholic, divorce & remarriage, eucharist, euthanasia, pastoral care, physician assisted suicide

Today, representatives from various faith communities united to issue a joint call to Canada’s elected officials to support a robust, well-resourced, national palliative care strategy and to raise awareness of inadequacies in palliative care, particularly in the wake of the debate over Physician-Assisted Dying/Suicide.

In addition to issuing an Interfaith Statement on Palliative Care, the organizations reaffirmed that compassion is a foundational element of Canadian identity that should directly shape Canadian public policy when it comes to end-of-life issues. The spokespersons warned that assisted dying/suicide must not become a default choice for those struggling with terminal illnesses, and that it is a national imperative to enhance access to and the quality of palliative care.
“The need for quality, widely accessible palliative care should be one of the most pressing concerns of our country,” said the Most Reverend Noël Simard, Bishop of Valleyfield, on behalf of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops. “Faith communities, along with health care workers, have for centuries stood by the bedsides of the dying to comfort and protect, to heal and console. Today, as faith leaders, we recommit ourselves to this sacred task of providing the spiritual care so essential to palliative care.”
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Posted: June 14, 2016 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=9600
Categories: NewsIn this article: Canada, euthanasia, interfaith, palliative care
Transmis : 14 juin 2016 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=9600
Catégorie : NewsDans cet article : Canada, euthanasia, interfaith, palliative care

Growing acceptance of euthanasia does not indicate increased compassion, but highlights the rise of a selfish “throwaway culture” that casts aside the sick, the dying and those who do not satisfy the perceived requirements of a healthy life, Pope Francis said.

In a culture that is increasingly “technological and individualistic,” some tend to “hide behind alleged compassion to justify killing a patient,” the Pope told health professionals from Spain and Latin America June 9.

“True compassion does not marginalize, humiliate or exclude, much less celebrate a patient passing away,” the Pope said. “You know well that would mean the triumph of selfishness, of that ‘throwaway culture’ that rejects and despises people who do not meet certain standards of health, beauty or usefulness.”
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Posted: June 10, 2016 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=9198
Categories: CNSIn this article: euthanasia, physician assisted suicide, Pope Francis
Transmis : 10 juin 2016 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=9198
Catégorie : CNSDans cet article : euthanasia, physician assisted suicide, Pope Francis

At a news conference today on Parliament Hill, the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) and The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (EFC) released a joint statement on euthanasia and assisted suicide. The Declaration on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide has been endorsed by over 30 Christian denominations together with over 20 Jewish and Muslim leaders from across Canada. In light of the Supreme Court of Canada’s ruling in R. v. Carter, the joint statement advocates for palliative care, respect for the dignity of the human person, human solidarity and psychological, spiritual and emotional support as the ethical and moral response in end-of-life care. The declaration states that “The recent Supreme Court of Canada decision has brought this issue to the forefront of public discussion and compels each of us as Canadians to reflect upon our personal and societal response to those who need our compassion and care.” Addressing the underlying importance of human dignity, the signatories affirm that “the sanctity of all human life, and the equal and inviolable dignity of every human being … is not exclusively a religious belief, although for us it has a significant religious meaning.” The signatories emphasize that “reverence for human life must be “the basis and reason for our compassion, responsibility and commitment in caring for all humans, our brothers and sisters, when they are suffering and in pain… to work to alleviate human suffering in every form but never by intentionally eliminating those who suffer.”
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Posted: Oct. 29, 2015 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=8821
Categories: NewsIn this article: Canada, Christian, euthanasia, Jewish, Muslim, physician assisted suicide
Transmis : 29 oct. 2015 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=8821
Catégorie : NewsDans cet article : Canada, Christian, euthanasia, Jewish, Muslim, physician assisted suicide

Archbishop Paul-André Durocher has written the Justice Minister requesting that Canada’s Catholic bishops be included in consultations regarding assisted suicide legislation. In a letter released May 25, the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops president expressed deep concern about the implications of the Supreme Court of Canada’s Feb. 6 ruling in the Carter decision that struck down the laws against assisted suicide and opened the way to doctor-assisted-death. Durocher said the bishops want to be consulted to ensure “the law offers the greatest protection possible to the lives and health of all, and that it also ensures complete protection for the rights and freedom of conscience of health-care workers and managers.” Justice Minister Peter MacKay has told journalists a wide-ranging consultation would begin soon and that he expected new legislation to be passed before the one-year suspension the Supreme Court allowed before putting its decision into effect. MacKay said no legislation would be tabled before the October federal election, sidelining euthanasia and assisted suicide as campaign issues. “The classic words of the Hippocratic Oath bind medical practitioners to keep patients ‘from harm and injustice,’ and not to ‘give a deadly drug to anybody who asked for it’ nor to ‘make a suggestion to this effect,’ ” Durocher wrote MacKay. “The court’s ruling not only erodes society’s appreciation for human life, but also the trust and confidence all people, particularly those most vulnerable, should have in medical personnel and health-care institutions to protect their lives.”
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Posted: May 26, 2015 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=8525
Categories: NewsIn this article: CCCB, euthanasia, physician assisted suicide
Transmis : 26 mai 2015 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=8525
Catégorie : NewsDans cet article : CCCB, euthanasia, physician assisted suicide

The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops welcomes the decision of the Federal Government to appeal all aspects of the British Columbia Supreme Court decision on assisted suicide, rendered June 15, 2012. We agree with the statement by Federal Justice Minister, Rob Nicholson, that “laws surrounding euthanasia and assisted suicide exist to protect all Canadians, including those who are most vulnerable, such as people who are sick or elderly or people with disabilities”.

In a statement issued June 18, 2012, the CCCB President, Most Reverend Richard W. Smith, Archbishop of Edmonton, underscored the importance of respecting the gift of life, from the moment of conception until natural death. He reminded us: “We are the stewards, not the owners, of the life God has entrusted to us. It is not ours to dispose of.” (cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2280)

The CCCB will continue to monitor this issue closely and offer its perspective as it unfolds.
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Posted: July 16, 2012 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=2234
Categories: NewsIn this article: Catholic, euthanasia, physician assisted suicide
Transmis : 16 juil. 2012 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=2234
Catégorie : NewsDans cet article : Catholic, euthanasia, physician assisted suicide