Contact your local MP over assisted suicide bill, plead bishops of Lancaster and East Anglia in pastoral letters

Episcopal pastoral letters against a proposed Bill to legalise assisted suicide in the UK, set to be read in Parliament on 29 November, keep rolling in from Catholic dioceses across the country.

Bishop Paul Swarbrick and Bishop Peter Collins, representing the Dioceses of Lancaster and East Anglia, respectively, have added their names to a growing list denouncing the proposition.

In letters distributed and read aloud at Mass throughout the Catholic churches of their dioceses, both bishops pleaded for both the faithful and legislators to see the “implications” which would likely result from the change in policy.

“As a faith community, the Catholic Church takes Her stand not on the opinions of those around us, even if they are the majority, but on the teaching we have received from Jesus,” declared Bishop Swarbrick.

“If this passing world is all that exists, then we can understand the fruitlessness of a slow and terminal suffering being cut short for the sake of this world’s compassion. Faith insists on a different way.

“Our suffering, living in the shadow of death, is radically altered by the presence of Jesus, and the hope He gives shows us a better way. It is ways of showing love and care which need to increase rather than termination of life. Love and care are effective ways of raising someone out of misery.

“I ask you to pray for a truly Christian outcome for this Bill. Let Christ’s voice be part of the debate. I ask you to contact your local Member of Parliament, showing you are led by your Faith. Share with her/him your opposition/concern for the Bill. Help to safeguard the vulnerable whose lives are at risk.”

Bishop Collins echoed the sentiment and insisted: “The presentation of this Bill raises many critical questions for our society. The absolute value and dignity of each and every human life is a principle not subject to variation.

“In those parts of the world where so called ‘assisted suicide’ has been legalised, the evidence demonstrates how supposed safeguards have diminished with the passage of time. Original controls on eligibility have often been changed with a widening of application to categories such as mental illness, dementia, disability and even sick children.

“Individuals can become subject to the danger of defining themselves in terms of being a burden to their family or to society in general, either emotionally or financially.

“During the month of November the Church draws our focus to the Last Things: death, judgement, heaven and hell. The moment of death is not a step into oblivion but a sacred translation from the confinement of time and space into the expanse of eternity.

“At the moment of death, we are called to embrace the fullness of life.”

Bishop Collins also requested that lay Catholics take action and reach out to their local parliamentary representative: “I ask you to write to your local MP urging them to vote against the proposals contained in the named Bill.”

The concerns from the two bishops join those expressed by the bishops of Nottingham, Leeds, Shrewsbury, Cardiff and Portsmouth dioceses, all of whom have spoken out to defend Catholic social teaching regarding respecting and valuing life.

RELATED: Assisted suicide will hurt us all, says Leeds Bishop

Photo: Bishop Paul Swarbrick.

Those who wish to contact their MP to express concerns about the new Bill may do so through an online tool provided by Right to Life UK here. It takes less than a minute to do.

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