The Catholic Weekly 14 June 2020

catholicweekly.com.au 16 NEWS 14, June, 2020 WORLD Mobs threaten Christians ‘Euthanasia by stealth’ Swiss Guard chaplain reveals new recruits get spiritual - as well as tactical - training In India, those choosing Christianity are - all too often - risking their lives AN UNNAMED 34-year-old male patient with a severe but treatable bowel problem is going to be kept in an artificial coma and denied sustenance until he dehydrates to death in the UK. The man, known only as MSP, has a history of serious depression, mental illness and chronic bowel issues, National Right to Life News reported. He had a temporary stoma implanted as doctors tried to overcome the bowel problem. But after an attempt at correc- tive surgery, the doctors con- cluded that the stoma, which diverts urine and faeces into a bag worn by the patient, will have to be permanent. MSP repeatedly expressed great horror at the prospect, worrying he would not be able to get a job or find a woman who would love him. He has been kept deeply unconscious post surgery. MSP’s parents are terrified that he will kill himself if he is released from the hospi- tal with a stoma. They are TASKED WITH protecting the pope even at the cost of their own lives, members of the Swiss Guard are not just highly trained specialists in security and ceremonial de- tail, they also receive exten- sive spiritual formation, the guard’s chaplain said. New recruits, who must have already completed ba- sic training in the Swiss army, must also strengthen their understanding of the Gospel and its values, said the chap- lain, Fr Thomas Widmer. In a 9 June interview with the Vatican newspaper, L’Oss- ervatore Romano , Fr Widmer spoke about the kind of train- RECENT EVENTS in Jharkhand state which bor- ders Bangladesh in India’s northeast give some glimpse of persecution faced by Chris- tians in India on a daily basis.’ Tribal mobs armed with clubs went to the homes of 16 families of a Protestant church every night for nearly three weeks, threatening to kill them if they didn’t return to their animistic Sarna religion, a pastor said. “The persecutors were go- ing with batons and wooden sticks, not giving the Chris- tians any chance to say no, but emphasising that either they reconvert to the Sarna fold or they would kill them right then and there,” Pastor Sarab- jit Bharati of Kirpa Bhavan Salom Church, outside Ban- jari Patan village in Palamu District, told the Morning Star News website. “They went to the extent of saying, ‘If these Christians do not accede, leave Christianity and return to our Sarna fold, we will kill them and conse- quently go to jail for it. We do not mind.’” Of 16 church families (about 130 people) threat- ened in one area, Pastor Bharati said two families were terrorised into returning to their ancestral Sarna religion, which involves worship of a creator god called Dharmes and a goddess identified with nature. Including Christian worshippers from surround- ing villages, about 250 to 300 people attend Pastor Bharati’s independent church. “They purposely went in the dark so that none of the [outlying] Christians would be able to reach the families to help and support them. Hap- less and alone, these families got very scared,” Pastor Bhara- ti said. “They are not giving them time to think and decide. In so much pressure, a person is unable to think straight and under such circumstances, one tends to submit.” Christian villagers had faced pressure of expulsion and boycott, but the death threats marked a new level of terror as the mobs arrived at their homes every night for two to three weeks before po- lice warnings put a halt to the threats in early May, the pas- tor said. One Christian resident, Malti Devi, said that her fam- ily was not able to sleep at night for fear of mob visits. “Every night we shook with fear with the thought of be- ing attacked and killed by the Anti-euthanasia protesters demonstrate outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London in 2017. PHOTO: CNS PHOTO/NEIL HALL, REUTERS convinced, given his advance directive and many conversa- tions that he would now rath- er be dead than alive. The hospital sought direc- tions froma court as towheth- er — and how — doctors can make that happen legally, with the court ruling that the death can proceed. The court approved the plan put forward by the hos- pital as being in the patient’s “best interests”. The ruling approved the proposal to withdraw artificial nutrition and hydration with continued sedation which, ultimately, will compromise respiration and lead to MSP’s death. Euthanasia and assisted suicide are not legal in the UK. NRLN reported that the pa- ing new guardsmen receive starting each summer. “It is important the re- cruits can start their service well-prepared,” he said. New recruits, who are normally sworn in on 6 May during a special ceremony – postponed to 4 October this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic – are currently at- tending summer school at the Vatican, he said. In the autumn, they will go to a military camp in Switzer- land, where they will receive more specialised training in tactics and security as part of their job in protecting the pope, he said. - CNS mob,” Devi told Morning Star News . The two families that re-converted back to the tribal Sarna religion, each located in Banaso Imli village of Palamu District, told Pastor Bharati that the mob threats left them no choice, he said. The Sarna villagers forced them to perform re-conver- sion rituals and sacrifices, he said. “They have been made to sign some papers and warned that they would have to pay a fine of 20,000 rupees [US$265] if they ever believe in Jesus Christ or are found attending meetings or Christian fellow- ships,” Pastor Bharati said, noting that the fine is a huge amount for poor villagers. But the 15-year-old son of the father of the one of the re- converted families, unidenti- fied for security reasons, said that he would continue fol- lowing Christ. “If my father does not want to go to church, he is free, but I will go because I like it there,” he told Morning Star News . “I feel something there that I cannot get anywhere. I am free from all negativity and get much peace. I have been fol- lowing Christ for almost two years now, though my fami- ly has been Christian for the past six years-plus. I used to get very sick, but since I have started following Jesus, I am completely healthy. I will not leave Christ.” India is ranked 10th on Christian support organisa- tion Open Doors’ 2020 World Watch List of the countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian. The country was 31st in 2013, but its position has worsened since Narendra Modi of the Bharatiya Janata Party came to power in 2014. tient, MSP is not terminally ill and is incapacitated only be- cause doctors are using drugs to keep him in an artificial coma—which is not medical- ly necessary for proper care. If MSP were to be awak- ened from the coma, he would be able to breathe on his own and receive sustenance. Despite the difficult and emotional adjustments pa- tients undergo after having a stoma, millions live relatively normal lives following such surgery. NRLN said that main- taining the coma is an active means of enabling the refus- al of artificial nutrition and hydration and ventilation; hence, is being implemented as part of the process to allow the killing of the patient by de- hydration or by suppression of respiration as the patient weakens. Keeping the patient uncon- scious is not a medical treat- ment but a means of facilitat- ing slow-motion euthanasia known as “terminal sedation,” it said, adding that Dutch doc- tors uncomfortable with le- thally injecting patients often resort to terminal sedation as a means of causing death. Terminal sedation should not be confused with “palli- ative sedation,” a legitimate end-of-life medical treatment that keeps patients with in- tractable painwho are close to death comfortable, the publi- catyion said. NRLN described the hospi- tal’s policy and the court rul- ing as “a profound abandon- ment, albeit by a judge and parents trying to do the right thing. “MSP is being given no chance of recovery. No chance of adjusting to new circumstances. No chance of receiving intensive men- tal-health interventions that might help him overcome his despair,” the report noted. They are convinced, given his advance directive and many conversations that he would now rather be dead than alive ... So the hospital went to court to see whether —and how—doctors can make that happen legally.” They purposely went in the dark so that none of the [outlying] Chris- tians would be able to reach the families to help and support them. Hopeless and alone, these families got very scared ... In so much pressure, a person is unable to think straight ... one tends to submit.” Pastor Sarabjit Bharati ¾ ¾ Wesley Smith Swiss Guards arrive in St Peter’s Square to attend Pope Francis’ Christmas message and blessing. PHOTO CNS, PAUL HARING