The Catholic Weekly 4 July 2021

catholicweekly.com.au 3 4, July, 2021 der God’s providence and will come to its end under God’s providence. We also believe, precisely because life is pre- cious and sacred, that it is to be respected at every mo- ment: when the child is still in its mother’s womb, when it grows to be an infant, then a young child, then an adoles- cent and an adult. We believe that whether a person is sick or well, weak or strong, poor or wealthy, in agreement with us or in opposition to us, ed- ucated or illiterate, generous or selfish, faithful or faithless, living or dying, that person is to be treated with dignity and respect: everything that can be done to give meaning and hope to every person must be done. In relation to Voluntary Assisted Dying, the Church’s position rests on its constant interpretation of the fifth commandment ... you shall not kill. 3 This is, we believe, a commandment fromGod, the giver and sustainer of life. It is a law which pre-exists any government or any parlia- ment. Governments have the power, given to them by those who elect them, to deter- mine what rules are expedient in the societies they govern. They do not have any author- ity to decide what is moral- ly acceptable. That authori- ty belongs to God, who has written into the nature and structure of human life what is in harmony with God’s cre- ative intention. This position, grounded in our religious faith, does we believe provide a blueprint for a life well-lived and for a society structured so as to ensure the well-being and flourishing of its people. I reassure all of you, my sis- ters and brothers in the faith, that here in Western Austra- lia our Catholic institutions are working collaboratively with the health authorities to ensure that Catholic facilities can continue to operate with complete fidelity to our Cath- olic principles, including our commitment to respect life in all its moments. Our hos- pitals and aged care facilities will not support, and will not provide or facilitate, Voluntary Assisted Dying. VAD is not regarded in any of our institutions as “medical care or treatment” and cannot form part of the “provision of care” which is the fundamen- tal obligation our institutions have to all their patients, resi- dents or clients ... [O]ur various institu- tions will make their policies around VAD clear and un- ambiguous. This is import- ant, both to provide certainty to those who choose to come to one of our facilities and to provide clarity to those who choose to work in our facil- ities. I [assure] you that in writing the way I have I have not been blind to the com- plexity of this matter. Nor am I suggesting that those who support VAD are in any way lacking in compassion. In- deed, for many supporters of VAD, it is their own experi- ence of the death of a loved one which has led them to the position they hold. But I, too, have experienced the death of loved ones and have sat at the bedside of the dying, in- cluding my mother. It can be an agonising experience to sit helplessly watching some- one you love die of a painful disease. In the end, it was my faith that sustained me, just as it was the faith and hope of my mother which carried her through those last diffi- cult days. Had mum’s death been hastened in any way she would have been deprived of knowing of the safe delivery of her one and only grandchild. She died half an hour after I whispered in her ear that the baby had been safely born. I remain profoundly grateful for that ... I invite you all to join with me in prayer for those whose life experience has brought them to a point where access- ing VAD seems the only op- tion open to them; for those who will be called to uphold in our institutions the beauty and hope of the Catholic un- derstanding of the dignity of life; and for our Catholic com- munity, that we can continue to create and foster commu- nities of faith, of hope, of mu- tual support and fidelity, and of love and compassion. This is our best response to the challenge which lies ahead of us. Most Rev Timothy Costelloe SDB DD of Perth still caring for those at the end of life ... we will not authorise any of our caregivers to be involved in any of the steps required for the client to access VAD, including facilitating assessments for eligi- bility and helping them to obtain and use the VAD substances.” Rev Dr Joe Parkinson, Perth LJ Goody Bioethics Director about any care concerns they may have, including seeking information about VAD or their wish to access VAD. “We are training staff to be available for these conversa- tions, so that we can identify and deliver the kind of care the resident or client actually needs at the time,” Dr Parkin- son explained. “If a resident or client wish- es to consult a VAD Navigator they will be able to do so pri- vately, even on our premises, but our staff will not be au- thorised to assist, other than to put the resident or client in touch with the Navigator Service for the purposes of obtaining information. If a resident or client wishes to consult an external doctor for the purposes of VAD eli- gibility assessment and asso- ciated processes, they will be free to do so. However, Catho- lic sector staff will not assist in any way. It is also against the law for health care workers to raise the issue of voluntary assisted dying with a resident or client. “If a resident or client wish- es to make private arrange- ments to receive and use VAD substances they will not be impeded, but again our staff will not be authorised to assist in any way,” Dr Parkinson em- phasised. “And we will need to pay close attention to the safe storage of and access to the substances,” he said. Staff do also not have to talk about voluntary assisted dying with the resident or cli- ent if they don’t want to – also known as ‘conscientious ob- jection’. Dr Parkinson also noted that the Catholic sector does not want to see patients or aged care residents trans- ferred out of their facilities for the purposes of obtaining VAD, “although of course we will not impede any who wish From 1 July, Voluntary Assisted Dying is legal throughout the state of Western Australia. PHOTO: RAWPIXEL In brief Priest, 82 dies after illness WELL KNOWN Sydney priest Father Tony Si- mari, who served as Par- ish Priest of Matraville for nearly two decades, passed away on 1 July. He was 82 and had been in poor health for some time. Fr Simari was born in Paddington, Sydney in 1939. He was a seminar- ian at St Columba’s Col- lege, Springwood, and St Patrick’s College, Manly and was ordained to the priesthood on 18 July 1964 by Cardinal Gilroy at St Mary’s Cathedral. He was appointed As- sistant Priest at the Par- ishes of Dundas Valley (1965), Rozelle (1968), Balmain (1970), Dac- eyville (1973), Pennant Hills (1975), and Fairfield (1978), before serving as Administrator of Berala (1982), Davidson, La- lor Park, Pagewood and Narrabeen (1984), Bev- erly Hills, Strathfield and Northbridge (1985), and Tempe (1986). He was made Parish Priest of Ma- traville in 1990, where he served faithfully until his retirement in late 2009. Funeral arrangements were not known as The Catholic Weekly went to press. and are assessed as clinically safe to do so ... Likewise if a hospital asks to return a res- ident or client to our care we will accept them, even if they intend to pursue VAD, but our staff will not be authorised to assist with the VAD process it- self,” Dr Parkinson said. “Our basic stance is that we would prefer to look after all our patients, residents and refuse the line to VAD clients ourselves, because we believe we are able to provide the best available standard of care in all of its physical, psychological, social, and spiritual dimensions. “That includes end-of-life care,” he said. Ending his Pas- toral Letter published on 23 June, Archbishop Costelloe highlighted the need to sup- port, through prayer and en- couragement, all those who are engaged in the healing and caring ministry of the Church. “Our Catholic hospitals, our Catholic aged-care fa- cilities, our Catholic nursing homes and our Catholic So- cial Outreach agencies are already committed to being places of compassion, of heal- ing, and of hope. “With the legalisation of VAD, the witness of all these wonderful institutions to the Catholic understanding of the dignity and sanctity of every human life will become even more important,” he wrote, adding “It will also become more challenging.” Jamie O’Brien is Commu- nicaitons Manager of the Archdiocese of Perth and Editor of The Record A nurse visits a patient at Good Shepherd Hospice in New York in 2021. No Catholic institution will facilitate or assist Voluntary Assisted Dying, Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB of Perth has declared in a pastoral letter following its legalisation inWA. PHOTO: CNS, GREGORY SHEMITZ I, too, have experienced the death of loved ones, and have sat at the bedside of the dying, including my mother. It can be an agonising ex- perience to sit helplessly watching someone you love die of a painful disease ...” Archbishop T Costelloe SDB NEWS