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Record PERTH, WA: October 12, 1995
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What's Inside . . . Mental Health Week begins this Sunday. The Society of St Vincent de Paul, not surprisingly, is already at work helping the mentally ill- Page 3 Next Sunday is World Mission Sunday - Page 11 Prayer for the busy is a matter of praying where you are at work or home - Page 8 Reviews and classifications of recent videos make their second appearance in The Record - Page 12
Catholic vivo en praised By Peter Rosengren Archbishop Barry Hickey has again urged the laity to speak on behalf of the Church in society, and has praised the Catholic Women's League of Australia as a lay group which puts this role into practice. Archbishop Hickey said at the opening Mass of the 37th national biennial conference of the Catholic Women's League of Australia, in St Mary's Cathedral last Sunday the laity had this specific role because they had to live out their lives in that often nonChristian environment, a role which could not be carried out by clerics. "Today the laity, in a real sense, speak for the Church because they have to live their everyday lives in society," he said, saying that "They're in politics and social institutions, schools and tertiary institutions, homes, neighbourhoods and community centres." The CWL played a critical role in commenting on issues of national importance such as family life, employment and unemployment, disabilities, single parent households, human life and its origins, and it did so from a Gospel-based perspective. Highlighting the important work of the league in commenting on issues of national importance, he warned "All these issues have a moral content and
insights drawn from the Gospel and must be presented, otherwise Australia will accept policies which are purely secular and have no root in ethics." The conference, held from 7-13 October at Aquinas College in the riverside suburb of Manning, saw over 500 registrations from around women Catholic Australia and from as far abroad as South Africa and New Zealand. However, the archbishop also asked what the model for speaking out today should be. "The political process? I hope not," he said. "In the political process factions and parties manoeuvre and jockey for power. At times the Church looks like that," he said. However the model for the Church was taken from the Gospel and based on the body of Christ, Archbishop Hickey said. In the Church's model all were equal members of the Church, whose head was Jesus Christ. Bishops and priests acted as shepherds. "And the laity also have their noble role. All these roles are not in conflict but we work closely together." "Your loyalty to the Church and its teachings is legendary and may it always be so because only then will your message be different to that of the world's," he told the CWL delegates. "I hope that Catholic women will see in you and your example
Cheerful Catholic Women's League delegates outside St Mary's Cathedral before the opening Mass of their national conference last Sunday and your work a guiding light that they will follow," he said. Congratulating the league on its work, Archbishop Hickey sail the conference was an event of significance because the league sought to make an impact on the cultural, social, moral and spiritual life of the nation. The national gathering of delegates, which saw a variety of speakers address delegates on
various issues and report on the past two years' activities, considered the league's direction and handed over to a new national executive. Archbishop Hickey also commended the decision of the 1991 CWL conference to seek the views of women at a grass-roots level as a wise one, saying that too often today small groups in society acted as if they spoke on
everybody's behalf. "There are many examples of such groups speaking with a disproportionate access to the media, and many times they only speak for themselves and no-one else," he said. However, the Catholic Women's League was not like .this because it worked from the grass roots level, spoke from the Gospel viewpoint and lived its values in real life, he said.
Health carers unite to condemn euthanasia By Peter Rosengren Catholic doctors, nurses and hospitals in Western Australia have joined in a united front against the culture of death in Australia represented by increasing support for euthanasia. The combined organisations, including the Catholic Doctors Association of WA, the Catholic Health Care Association, the St John of God Health Care system, St Anne's Hospital, Southern Cross Homes (WA) Inc, Catholic Homes Inc, and the LJ Goody Bioethics Centre said in a statement issued today that the adoption of any euthanasia legislation would not only legalise the killing of patients but also kill in the hearts of doctors and nurses their sensitive dedication to the care and welfare of their patients. They said that any deliberate destruction of human life by neglect, drug abuse, suicide or murder should be totally rejected by wise legislation. The statement also calls on all Government and health care authorities to make a priority of establishing well-equipped hospices and ensuring that doctors and nurses are given the very best in palliative care training. "At the present time there are a number of attempts around Australia to legalise euthanasia," the group said. "Euthanasia is the intentional killing of another person by act or omission. No doctor or nurse in Australia should ever
be asked to deliberately kill anyone," the statement said. "If we accept euthanasia, we are asking our doctors and our nurses to accept a legal entitlement to kill some of their patients. This is not only unjust to our doctors and nurses but would also tend to undermine the trust of the community in our health care providers," it said. The statement also drew distinctions between withholding or discontinuing life continuing treatments, palliative care and euthanasia. It said that withholding life-prolonging treatment could be permissible when such treatment was only prolonging a person's dying process. Regarding palliative care it said that technological advances meant that patients could now be kept virtually painfree until they died even though it might be the case that palliative care might foreseeably but unintentionally shorten the patient's life. In these circumstances, such procedures for the benefit of the patient were morally justifiable and should be free of any legal restrictions, it said. It said that euthanasia was a deliberate decision to terminate the life of the patient and was unacceptable. "In good medical care, one is using all proper methods to eliminate the distress of the patient and maintain all possible patient comfort. In euthanasia, the purpose is to use lethal methods to eliminate the distress by eliminating the patient in
distress. Euthanasia can be used for rea- euthanasia many members of the public sons other than the distress of the patient. could be unaware of the subtle moral difConvenience, expediency or material gain ferences between withholding medical treatment, palliative care and euthanasia. can be the motivation for euthanasia." "And that's why we think it needs to be Spokesman for the Catholic Doctors' Association and for the combined organi- spelt .out in clear and simple terms," he sations, Dr Michael Quinlan, told The said. He said the impact of euthanasia on Record the statement had been issued Australian society, if adopted, would be because of attempts to legalise euthanasia incalculable. "I think it would be a horrendous state of in various parts of Australia. "We considered that at this time when affairs if it became law. It really would go there is so much controversy and potential to the very seat of respect for the dignity of to change the law regarding care of the the person and erode the trust that exists dying, including euthanasia, that it was between nurses and doctors," he said The statement issued by the Catholic appropriate for groups within the Church to state what they felt, particularly with organisations said that legalisation of regard to a positive statement regarding euthanasia would ask doctors and nurses euthanasia, rather than a defensive state- "to live out a terrible contradiction" in their jobs and lives. ment," he said. "They would be expected to do everyDr Quinlan, who is chairman of the St John of God general board and director of thing possible to preserve health and prothe St John of God Medical Hospital mote the life and well-being of their Teaching Unit at Subiaco, said that there patients. At the same time they would be were a number of moves in progress in asked to do the opposite and destroy life. Australia with regard to care of the dying We are confident that the great majority of These included a the medical and nursing professions will and euthanasia. euthanasia bill in New South Wales and find that contradiction unacceptable and care of the dying bills in other states. abhorrent," it says. He said that if euthanasia were introIt also said that if the community was duced anywhere it would mean that, if brought to an adequate understanding of those working in Catholic health care sys- the patients' and doctors' right to refuse tems were not allowed a conscience vote, futile and excessively burdensome treatthey would be forced to take a stand on ment, and also to keep patients comfortthe matter so that the public understood able and pain-free by proper palliative where Catholic institutions stood. care, then the medical case for euthanasia Dr Quinlan said in the overall debate on would disappear.