The Record Newspaper 10 May 1990

Page 1

Record PERTH, WA: May 10, 1990

Registered by Australia Post Publication No. WAR 0202

Quote ,4 V What is missing is the ritual and symbolism by which we normally humanise death. Death in this case is not the dramatic event of the cessation of respiration, but a doctor's diagnosis and his or her signing of a form. The release of the beating heart body to the procurement team is accompanied by neither ceremony nor ritual and the members of the team remain faceless, hidden in the anonymity and secrecy of the operating room. There is no contact between the surgical teams which procure organs and the relatives of the donor.

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Organ harvestin Ex-Melbourne consultant says it offends human sensitivities

"The process of donors are confronted by obtaining organs for an engineering process transplant from beat- in which sentiments and ing heart cadavers had sensitivities are necessarbecome dehuma- ily overridden in the nised," Mr Nicholas urgency and complexity Tonti-Filippini said of multiple organ harvand when giving the key- esting note address at the transplantation. Annual Bioethics ConMr Tonti-Filippini held ference at St Vincent's the position of consultant Hospital in Melbourne. ethicist Mr Tonti-Filippini said that recipient patients for donated organs and the bereaved relatives of

at St Vincent's for eight years before taking a research position with the Australian Catholic Bishops this year.

'Do it with respect' VATICAN CITY (CNS): Making human organs available for transplant is a matter of Christian generosity, Pope John Paul II told a group of medical experts. The pope said that the Church is committed to promoting "awareness of the need for organ donors". Ethical principles must always be followed in such operations, he added. "We see an increasing

number of people waiting, very often in vain, for the gift of an organ which would grant them fresh hope and life itself," the pope said. "Furthermore, since the possible availability of organs involves costs which the majority of people cannot afford, this waiting becomes all the more distressing," he said.

forthcoming without a renewed sense of human solidarity" based on Christ's example, which can "inspire men and women to make great sacrifices in the service of others". The pope was speaking to participants of an international conference on kidney transplants. Noting the frequent shortage of donor kidneys, the pope said Christians should recognise in this "a challenge

He expressed grave concern that the logistics of organ retrieval meant that death of the donors had become a bureaucratic event dominated by the technology. Relatives of donors are denied the normal events which accompany death and the adjustments of the grieving process. Death is dehumanised when relatives must say their farewells to a beating heart donor prior

to their generosity and fraternal love." The Church, he said, holds that all such procedures be done with the "utmost respect" for principles of moral law and Christian ethics. The Church allows human organ transplants as long as it is done with the consent of the people involved and does not result in the disfigurement or mutilation of the donor.

to the body being taken no ceremonies, rituals or to the operating room for symbols have been developed to help people organ harvesting. place the donation of "What is missing is the ritual and symbolism by tissue and the death of which we normally the donor is a spiritual humanise death. Death context. "There are strong feelin this case is not the dramatic event of the ings and emotions which cessation of respiration, need to be recongjsed but a doctor's diagnosis and directed." and his or her signing of Addressing the broader a form. context of acute care "The release of the hospitals in which organ beating heart body to the transplantation occurs, procurement team is Mr Tonti-Filippin said: accompanied by neither "Patients and their ceremony nor ritual and relatives are virtually the members of the team powerless, rendered remain faceless, hidden totally dependent by the in the anonymity and conceptualisation of secrecy of the operating illness as a bioroom. mechanical problem to "There is no contact be repaired by experts. between the surgical They are led to believe in teams which procure the mythology of technoorgans and the relatives logical miracles." of the donor." "Organ transplantation Mr Tonti-Filippini criti- is the most reductionist dsed the major churches of medical technologies. for having ignored the The idea of replacement development of organ parts for diseased organs transplantation from seems so simple. It is an beating heart donors. engineer's solution, — "The Churches have neat, efficient and effecneither accepted nor tive in overcoming a rejected the practice, and malfunction."

AGui v ssEf f i s m. , Rights of a child ( The pope added that "no solution will be

Statement by Catholic Bishops of Australia on the United Nations Convention on The Rights of the Child.

The Australian Catholic Bishops give their wholehearted support to recent international initiatives to overcome abuse of the rights of children, including cruelty to and even torture of children, child poverty and the forced separation of families, especially refugee families. The bishops welcome the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and sincerely hope that, despite any limitations it may have, it will prove to be an effective instrument for protecting the Fights and interests of all children throughout the world. Because of the importance of the Convention for the children of the whole world, the bishops strongly recommend that Australia should ratify the Convention, though they must at the same time

express some reservations concerning the possible implementation and use of the Convention within Australia itself. The bishops are aware that the preamble to the Convention provides for the rights of children before as well as after birth and are particularly concerned that human beings from their beginning and throughout their lives be given the protection of the law. In the event of ratification, the Australian Government will have a moral obligation to ensure that the law prohibits harmful interference with human beings at all stages of life. The bishops are also anxious that ratification should leave no doubt that parents have the primary right and responsibility for the nurturing of their children. The Convention must not be used to undermine the legitimate authority of parents, and the role of parents

Our sailors meet the pope

VATICAN CITY: Thirty officers and sailors from an Australian Navy vessel were received in audience by Pope John Paul in the Throne Room last Friday morning. On the 75th anniversary of the sacrifice of their military comrades on the Turkish coast early in the

should not be set aside unless the parents are manifestly abusing their authority or otherwise neglecting their obligations. The bishops endorse the concern of the Holy See's Observer to the United Nations in relation to the rights of parents to ensure the religious education of their children in accordance with the parent's own convictions. Within Australia itself there are many issues concerning children that require urgent attention, eg poor health and education levels among many Aboriginal children; high rates of child detention; physical and sexual abuse of children; child homelessness; drug abuse. Unless ratification of the Convention is to be nothing more than an empty gesture, concerted action will be called for from the Federal Government, each and every State and Territorial Government, the Churches and the entire Australian community. 9

World War, they had come to recall those events on the spot they where happened. They requested an audience with Pope John Paul to mark the occasion. The Holy Father asked them to unite themselves with him in working and pray-

ing for peace in the world. "This is the greatest tribute we can offer," he said, "to those who fell 75 years ago, determined to protect their own country and their dear ones. 'Today Icall on each one of you to make a personal contribution to world peace, making it your role to

promote respect and esteem for all, especially for the poor and the outcast, and pledging yourselves to co-operation and dialogue in order to avoid conflict. "In this way you will give witness to the best Australian tradition." — Vatican Radio


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