catholicweekly.com.au 2 NEWS 8, August, 2021 Call 02 9649 6423 or visit www.catholiccemeteries.com.au Consecrated lawns and chapels Sydney’s only Catholic crematorium Monthly mass for the Repose of Souls Funeral directors available for a Catholic service Bereavement pastoral care Serving the Catholic community for over 150 years CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Archbishop Fisher said the experience in overseas countries which have imple- mented euthanasia laws has highlighted how they can be easily extended to cover chil- dren and even new-borns. “The Dutch introduced voluntary euthanasia in the 1980s and 1990s, but by the 2000s, they allowed non-vol- untary euthanasia for new- borns. What was supposed to be for the extreme cases of unrelievable suffering, is now the standard way of dying for 5000 people a year in the Netherlands”, he warned. “The Belgian parliament legalised euthanasia in 2002 with an ‘R’ rating- for adults only: a decade later it got a ‘G’ rating for children. Already in the short expe- rience of Voluntary Assisted Dying in Victoria, many times more people have availed themselves of it than was pre- dictedat the time it was passed. Upuntil the endof last year, 224 people died from Voluntary Assisted Dying in Victoria with another 181 being given the means to do so and many of them may have since died. Yet when euthanasia was passed in Victoria, Premier Daniel An- drews said he expected about a dozen people to use these laws per year”, Archbishop Fisher explained. The Archbishop said his personal experience of having recovered from a life-threat- ening illness himself, over five years ago, has left him more convinced of the importance of opposing euthanasia laws. Archbishop Fisher was di- agnosed with Guillain Barre Syndrome in late 2015, an illness which left him total- ly paralysed from the neck- down, but he recovered after five months of hospital treat- Bill will unleash a culture of death Proposed euthanasia legislation for NSW will open the floodgates to all kinds of abuses, says Arch- bishop Anthony Fisher OP, pointing to decades of experience in Belgium and the Netherlands. PHOTO: FREEPIK.COM I n this edition Our story begins in 1839 with the Australasian Chronicle, continuing with the Freeman’s Journal in 1850. Level 13, Polding Centre, 133 Liverpool Street, Sydney, NSW 2000. Phone (02) 9390 5400 | Vol 73, No 5196. The Catholic Weekly is published by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney ABN 60 471 267 587 and is printed by ACM Australian Community Media, 159 Bells Line of Road, North Richmond NSW, 2754. News Movies, books Archbishop’s homily Editorial & Letters 1-11 8-9 17 20-21 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Michael Kenny (02) 9390 5348 EDITOR Peter Rosengren (02) 9390 5400 REPORTERS Marilyn Rodrigues (02) 9390 5410 Debbie Cramsie (02) 9390 5396 SUBSCRIPTIONS Rita Ng (02) 9390 5411 ADVERTISING AND MARKETING Steve Richards (02) 9390 5404 Katie Clarke (02) 9390 5402 DESIGNERS Renate Cassis Mathew De Sousa Faith in the trajectory of life catch it now at: thiscatholiclife.com.au LEAVE A GIFT Archdiocese of Sydney Catholic CHARITIES Order your FREE Wills and Bequests Guide today 1800 753 959 or
[email protected] myWill SUPPORTINGTHE MINISTRIES OF THE CATHOLIC ARCHDIOCESE OF SYDNEY Leaving a gift in a ment along with the prayers and support of many. “I experienced first-hand the paradox of the human body unresponsive to the human spirit. I had terrible pain. I knew the humiliation of baby-like dependency. But I also witnessed the triumph of the human spirit in the care people received, in the deter- mination of some to conquer their disability or suffering or at least accommodate it and get on with their lives”, he said. “After myself suffering a terribly debilitating and po- tentially lethal sickness, I be- came more convinced than ever that, whatever the mo- tives and the rhetoric, a eu- thanasia regime will neither relieve suffering nor respect freedom: rather, it will mean those who are suffering will suffer more and those whose freedom is already limited will be even less free.” Archbishop Fisher urged those attending the forum to sign a petition to Premier Gla- dys Berejiklian, urging her to reject the laws, as well as to write to their local MPs calling on them to oppose the laws as well. Sydney Catholic Youth Team Leader, Mr Chris Lee, said the Archbishop’s talk left many young Catholics with a far better understanding of the important issue of euthanasia and what action they can take to build up a pro-life culture in NSW. “They look up to the Arch- bishop as their shepherd and when he speaks with authority on an issue such as this one, they felt a lot more empowered as young people to now go out anddoall they can tocampaign against euthanasia”, he said. One of the attendees, a Religious Education teacher, Isabella Plust, said the talk was very thought-provoking and left her questioning the poor judgement of some pol- iticians pushing for euthana- sia laws which would end up hurting some of society’smost disadvantaged. “Our politicians are con- stantly emphasising the im- portance of protecting the lives of the vulnerable in this time of pandemic and yet at the same time, they are try- ing to push forward with a bill, under people’s noses, that directly contradicts that same principle, which doesn’t make sense at all”, she said. The No Euthanasia peti- tion is available online here : https://www.noeuthanasia. org.au/protect_life_nsw