|
Assisted Suicide & Euthanasi: A Deadly Illusion
To the people of the Archdiocese of Ottawa
Dear Friends,
Recently euthanasia has received considerable attention in the media. Two major movies have featured it as a central theme, The Sea Within, and Million Dollar Baby. Both give a very sympathetic rendering of the issue of taking one's own life, or of planning to have someone take it from you. If you do not agree with that opinion you are made to feel cruel, unfeeling and even unjust. The message is clear:every one has a right to end their life when and where they want.
We believe that we are not in control of our lives; the Lord controls it. We are not to do anything to hurry the end nor anything extraordinary to prolong life. It is t he Lord's doing. Those who do not share this faith, see us as abnormal. Life is God's and, in spite of suffereing, even agaony, there is some purpose for our living. In the divine plan, the demands that life might make on us and on those around us to care for those who are very sick or near death can be what we need to urge us to holiness.
I am happy to report that the issue of euthanasia will be in the forefront in our docese over the next few months. I have asked our Coordinator of Lay Formation to plan, in conjunction with a local palliative care physician, the implementation of 'In Support of Life'. This program, initiated by the Diocese of Boston, will certainly be of great benefit to all. The messengers of death are all around us, let us be "For Life!"
Sincerely yours in Christ our Lord,
Marcel Gervais- Archbishop of Ottawa
|
