Monday, July 22, 2024

Clergy distress related to euthanasia and assisted suicide (MAiD)

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition is not a religious organization, so when I read the article With assisted death, Christian clergy face profound questions, by Richard Cuthbertson that was published by CBC news, I wondered how to comment.

Euthanasia was legalized in Canada under the invented term (MAiD) in June 2016. Over the past 8 years EPC has dealt with many people who were seeking to die by euthanasia (MAiD), who were already approved for euthanasia or family members and friends who were wanting to prevent the euthanasia death. I have also been involved with helping or advising many clergy from different denominations as they were faced with a Church member who was approved for or died by euthanasia.

I also have significant experience with people who are suffering from grief and distress after a friend or family member has died from euthanasia. People have spoken to me with PTSD symptoms and others have talked about their profound grief.

Cuthbertson's article concerns interviews by April Hart, a United Church minister who is working on a Masters of Divinity. 

I wonder if the first story was dug up and dropped into the article to undermine the Catholic Church approach that opposes killing people. The opening interview was based on a Catholic man who died by euthanasia in February 2020. It is striking that there is no mention of the priest seeking to prevent the euthanasia death. The story explains that:

"(the priest) heard Peter's confession in the living room and anointed him with oil, a Catholic ritual known as the sacrament of the sick."

"Peter's funeral, officiated by another priest, was held in the local Catholic church, an imposing gothic revival sandstone building on the north side of town. He is buried in the graveyard across the street."

Cuthbertson did not interview the priests involved so it's hard to know if there were attempts to dissuade Peter from euthanasia, nonetheless if the article's rendition of the story is accurate then there are concerns with how it was handled.

Cuthbertson also writes about David Maginley who was a chaplain in Halifax. Cuthbertson tells Maginley's story:

David Maginley, a former chaplain in the Halifax hospital system who has sat at the deathbeds of hundreds of people, vividly remembers attending his first MAID in 2017.

The patient's body was withered by end-of-life cancer, but he had "shining eyes." The disease would kill him soon, likely within a week, but he didn't want to wait.

As the two talked, the man spoke of a childhood memory of lying in the grass, staring at the sky and eating a Jos Louis cake. Maginley popped out and bought him one.

Just hours later, with his wife holding him, the patient was injected with the drugs that would take his life. Maginley recalls him saying: "I love you and goodbye, thank you."

It was, it seemed, a "beautiful" death. But Maginley said he was struck by something unexpected.

"I'm at the foot of the bed and seeing that big, that gigantic white vial of medication go into him," he said. "It just felt so different than removal of life-support or natural death. It was so different. We were causing death."

Unsure what to do next, Maginley prayed the man would be at peace, that he could once again lie down in the grass in the sunshine, that he would watch over his family.

Maginley returned to his office, locked the door and "fell apart." What had he just witnessed? Had he colluded in death? Wasn't this compassionate?

Since then, he's been at the bedsides for about 10 more MAIDs. Some have been "horrible," most have been "what we would call kind." But his distress remained. MAID, he worries, is about clinging to control in a medical model that aims to fix things.

"Most people, as they die, move into a mystical or a transpersonal state of consciousness," he said. 

"They're filled with peace, equanimity, they have mystical visions — these are universal. And it really changes not only their fear of death, but the family's process of grief. It's beautiful. But I don't see it happening with MAID. We shut you off before you reach that stage."

He realized he could no longer attend assisted deaths. Unwilling to simply step back from those cases, leaving them to other chaplains, he took early retirement in January after 25 years in spiritual care, and has written a book about what he has learned that he expects to publish soon.

It is good that Cuthbertson included significant information about Maginley and his experience with euthanasia. Maginley expresses his concern with MAiD deaths but also points out how natural deaths are very different than euthanasia deaths.

Maginley expresses his experience with distress with relation to these deaths. The distress related to euthanasia is very common. As stated earlier, I have spoken to many people who were grieving or experiencing PTSD reactions. 

There are not easy responses to individual situations. My personal experience helps me recognize the emotional, spiritual and psychological distress that many people have experienced with relation to euthanasia deaths. Some people have said to me 'You don't understand' as if, since I oppose euthanasia I cannot understand these deaths, where in fact, nothing is further from the truth.

Killing is never caring or compassionate. Killing abandons the person in their time of need.

9 comments:

  1. For a Catholic response to euthanasia and assisted suicide, please visit this website from the Archdiocese of Edmonton: hopeanddignity.caedm.ca

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    1. Excellent resource Alana. Thanks so much.

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  2. How tragic that we view killing as normal because there is nothing normal about taking a life or assisting in taking a life.In fact it is barbaric that we try to rationalize the concept.
    You are created in the image of God how sad that we would reach the end of our life and not have gotten to know our creator who loves you and His love for you is greater than any love
    If you are reading this and life seems unbearable reach out to your creator God said call on me and I will answer .It is my prayer that you will invite Jesus into your life to be your Saviour . He will not fail you He will come into your life and He will dwell within you.Run to God don’t run from Him turn back to God He is longing to have an relationship with you He has been waiting for you to acknowledge Him .Just pray and say and mean it Lord Jesus come into my life forgive me that I have not acknowledged you I need you come into my life and live in me give me the ability to live for you fill me with your Holy Spirit and take sickness and disease from the midst of me take the thoughts of death from me and give me newness of life thank you Lord Jesus for being my Saviour mean it receive it by faith.When you sit on a chair you expect it to hold you up if you invite God’s Son Jesus into your life He will come and He will never leave or forsake you but He will change your life on earth and He will change your eternity .Killing yourself will end your earthly life not your spiritual life but asking Jesus into your life will change both your earthly life and your eternity do not miss so great a salvation.God loves you so much I am praying for you love in Christ Marlyen

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  3. Tershia LambrechtsJuly 22, 2024 at 4:05 PM

    From my experience in attending different churches in Canada over 50 years, I have yet to experience, barring one, that has addressed the moral ills in our society - euthanasia being one of them. Scripture has umpteen passages where these can be addressed in a sermon. Sadly, too many churches no longer follow Sola Scriptura but cultural norms instead.
    I offered the two videos made by EPC to a church that we used to attend. They played one, without first addressing the issue as they said they would, and refused to play the other.
    I too can attest to the mystical aspect of a natural death. When my husband died at home while in palliative care not too long ago, we both experienced “the Peace of God which passes all understanding” (Philippians 4:7). My grief came later, where I still receive comfort from the Lord.

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    1. Tershia, I am so sorry of the passing of your husband but am glad you got to share the beauty of his natural death…God was with you. I personally have died a natural death (viral brain infection) only to be sent back by God with an important message for my Catholic Church in Duluth, MN (I worked as a business administrator for one of the Churches). When you die with Christ, it is with His will, not ours. Why would He bless a death not of His choosing? He won’t! Pure and simple. We need to speak out against travesties of suicide. As Our Lord said, “You will be judged not only by what you say but by what you do not say”. We all need to speak up for Him, to protect His people and His Church from abuse. God bless you for speaking up.

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  4. I have addressed it, and the criticism from one of my deacon colleagues was that I mentioned it too often. But I know that the process is condemnable as murder in the Catholic Church teachings. Even Judaism and Islam condemn the action as murder, except for a few renegades. I recently got out letters to the US Senators I know to repeal the DC DWD laws as they are coming under review. Here in my new location, a parishioner whose wife is having health issues approached me as a doctor, whom he tells me is Catholic, recommended he look into relocating and falsely told him the Church accepts it. I counseled him away from it. But I also reported the incident to the Diocese and have heard nothing back at all. That alarms me. In Genesis, when Adam blames Eve for the Apple, when Cain kills Abel, and other instances as well, especially when taking another human life, God makes the point that Justification does not make a condemnable action acceptable. When revieing Matthew 25 and the Last Judgment, and even with the Rich Man and Lazarus, justification for one's actions that lead directly to the death of another human being is never accepted. A few years ago, after a trip to Montreal, I was in contact with deacons there. Many opted out of my emails when the subject of MAiD was in my writing. But the families I have encountered who have had a family member die from MAiD have all suffered severe turmoil and division from the grief and guilt. Conscience over natural law cannot be legislated, and attempts to try is a fools' haven.
    Over my writings and published work, I have encountered slander to my reputation from non-Catholic clergy who favor the process. But I will continue to work against MAiD and will not shirk addressing it from the pulpit. Justification is not justifiable.

    Deacon William Gallerizzo

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  5. The following response was sent to the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition with the request to publish it.

    God is love. With this very simple sentence, Christians want to explain the huge, gigantic importance of love in their faith and in their lives. Jesus said to love God and to love one another.

    But what is love? When I was young, what we in Belgium now call a ‘pedagogical tick’ was ‘normal’. In a Santa Claus song we sang: those who are good got sweets and those who were bad got the stick. Now a pedagogical tick is forbidden by law, for parents and for teachers. ‘Violence’ is not love. And of course, euthanasia is allowed in Belgium since 2002. So called mercy killing is love, no doubt about it. High on the political agenda is euthanasia for persons with dementia, and why not also for the 80 plus.

    So what is love? The evolution in the concept has been analyzed by many, for years. The first encyclical Pope Benedictus XVI wrote, was in 2006 on the topic ‘Deus caritas est – God is love’. It was his favourite encyclical. Pope Francis is extremely driven by love. And who decides what love is? How many opinions are there? Who or what are our influencers? The (liberal) media, our own conscience, our own desires, the law, the Church?

    What love is, is of immense importance when caring for the sick. So with the whole (r)evolution of the concept of love and the enormous progress in medicine, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith wrote a letter to the faithful in 2020, “in the face of challenges that affect the very way we think about …” The church, mother and teacher.
    The letter is called ‘Samaritanus bonus on the care of persons in the critical and terminal phases of life and “In the face of challenges that affect the very way we think about medicine, the significance of the care of the sick, and our social responsibility toward the most vulnerable, the present letter seeks to enlighten pastors and the faithful regarding their questions and uncertainties about medical care, and their spiritual and pastoral obligations to the sick in the critical and terminal stages of life.”
    https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/it/bollettino/pubblico/2020/09/22/0476/01077.html#eng

    When I read the comment of Alex Schadenberg on the article ‘Clergy distress related to euthanasia and assisted suicide’ I felt so happy that the R.C. Church - had done here homework. In one document I can learn about the care for one’s neighbor, the living experience of the suffering Christ and the proclamation of Hope, the Samaritan’s heart that sees, the cultural obstacles that obscure the sacred value of every human life, the teaching of the magisterium included the pastoral accompaniment and the support of the sacraments and pastoral discernment towards those who request Euthanasia or Assisted Suicide.

    Taking care of the sick and the vulnerable is difficult, but hope, faith and love, as expressed in Samaritanus bonus, moves mountains.

    Johan R. Bruynseraede lives in Belgian and worked in a prison and in a psychiatric hospital

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  6. I've attached two links here, one is from Lutheran Church Canada and one from Lutherans for Life Canada. Our stance as Lutherans is that all life comes from God. We believe in the Sanctity of life, from conception to natural death. Euthanasia and assisted suicide break God's commandment Thou shalt not murder/kill. https://www.lutheranchurchcanada.ca/who-we-are/what-we-believe/social-issues/
    https://lutheransforlife-canada.ca/sermon/has-the-hippocratic-oath-become-the-hypocrites-oath/#description-tab

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  7. When a member of the clergy has doubts about the wisdom of choosing death, he or she should express those reservations before the death takes place. Perhaps there are some further meaningful activities that should be completed before death. When the best time to die has been selected, the clergy-person should approve this end-of-life choice. Members of the family might also express good reasons for postponing death by a few days.

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