Diary: Cardinal Vincent Nichols

Recent weeks have seen the remarkable debate about the prospect of assisting suicide being made legal in the United Kingdom (I write this before the first and indicative vote on 29 November).

So many voices are being heard in this continuing debate. The issue at stake is so fundamental: literally a matter of life and death. Doctors, nurses, judges, palliative care workers, vulnerable people, those who fear the pain that often comes with the ending of life, have all been expressing their concerns and convictions. So too have those of religious faith, of many different religions.

There have been some who have called for these religious voices to be excluded. Indeed, it has been remarked that offering arguments which appeal to a belief in God is counter-productive in our parliamentary setting. I regret deeply this cast of mind, and believe it illustrates the well-known intolerance of a self-proclaimed liberal stance. Yet, for the most part, all voices in this debate have been listened to and respected.

One voice has struck me most forcefully: that which has given medical detail of how difficult it is to actually end the life of a human being with so-called medical means. Hours of agony may well await those who attempt to kill themselves with a lethal cocktail of drugs. Assisted suicide is not an easy option, but a dreadful prospect for all concerned.

The tragedy of modern-day slavery and human trafficking continues to be a scandal of the utmost proportions. Pope Francis described it as “an open wound in the body of humanity” and “an open wound in the Body of Christ”.

There is no shortage of those striving to eliminate this awful trade in human beings. Efforts range from tracking its enormous profits and at tempting restitution, to challenging businesses to account for slavery in their supply chains, intervention to rescue and respond to its victims, and police activity to apprehend and prosecute perpetrators.

These efforts are not as joined-up as they could be. My own involvement includes the anti-trafficking charity Santa Marta Group, which acts as a catalyst for such cooperation, bringing together many fine actors seeking coalitions and joint efforts. I was pleased to speak to the Herald’s Simon Caldwell about its work recently [Ed: SC’s article on Santa Marta Group to follow soon online, though you can also find it now in the special Advent and Christmas double issue of the magazine].

But it is a losing battle. So often awareness of the plight of victims of human trafficking is lost in the toxic issues surrounding immigration and control of borders. Traffickers are among those who gain by the failure of nations to cooperate in the challenge of so many people fleeing violence, persecution, or simply seeking improvement for their families.

The strengthening of politics based on aggressive nationalism is not making these tragedies easy to tackle. Pride in one’s nation is right and proper, as is the desire to see the nation prosper. Yet this has to be balanced by a willingness to engage in thorough international cooperation for the sake of the fundamental common good of our human family.

These issues clearly figured significantly in the recent election in the United States. Yet another perspective caught my eye: the Democrat campaign’s emphasis on abortion rights for women. The point was made very succinctly: abortion was our hope. What a paradoxical position to adopt: that the taking of a human life, that a procedure which is in the shadow of sadness and distress, should be proclaimed as a “hope”, as the basis for a future!

The cherishing of human life and of the family as the best foundation for the future are the values to be proclaimed, not least as we celebrate the Holy Family and the birth of the Son of God in our midst as a vulnerable baby.

Christmas brings its surprises every year, even if they are often clothed in traditional fashion. This year is no different: the Post Office has issued a series of Christmas stamps depicting five of the UK’s cathedrals. Among them is Westminster Cathedral, my own.

Of course, it is depicted with a snow-covered piazza and frost-laden trees; the pigeons and Adrian who takes care of them are nowhere to be seen [Ed: again, article on “The Pigeon Whisperer of Westminster” to follow soon online, though available now in the latest special double issue of the magazine]. But there it is: the cathedral in all its splendour, with a cross prominently atop the tower.

I hope this stamp may tempt a few more people to join the many thousands of visitors who enter the cathedral every day. There they will find a haven of peace and an inducement to raise hearts and minds to God. This, after all, is the purpose of the beauty and tranquility of our churches, built to give expression to our joy and pleasure in knowing that the mercy and compassion of God has entered our world in a definitive manner in the birth of this tiny child: Great little one, whose all embracing birth / Lifts earth to heaven, stoops heav’n to earth.

A happy Christmas to you all, then, when it comes. May God bless you.

Cardinal Vincent Nichols is Archbishop of Westminster, and president of the Bishops’ Conference of England & Wales.

This article appears in the November 2024 edition of the Catholic Herald. To subscribe to our award-winning, thought-provoking magazine and have independent, high-calibre, counter-cultural and orthodox Catholic journalism delivered to your door anywhere in the world click HERE.

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