The Catholic Weekly 27 February 2022

catholicweekly.com.au 2 NEWS 27, February, 2022 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 VIOLENT SUICIDES increase in countries where assisted suicide and euthanasia are le- galised, a new study shows. A 35-page study published in The Journal of Ethics in Mental Health Feb. 7 said not a single European country that has legalised doctor-as- sisted death has seen a subse- quent reduction in its rates of violent suicides. The report, “Euthanasia, Assisted Suicide and Suicide Rates in Europe,” found that the introduction of euthana- sia and assisted suicide often “is followed by considerable increases in suicide (inclusive of assisted suicide) and in in- tentional self-initiated death.” The study examined data on physician-assisted sui- cides and euthanasia and on violent suicides between 1990 and 2016 in the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and Switzerland -- where “assist- ed dying” has been legal for a comparatively lengthy pe- riod -- and compared them to trends in non-assisted sui- cides rates in bordering coun- tries where assisted suicide or euthanasia was not legal. ¾ Simon Caldwell Euthanasia boosts suicides: UK study “Furthermore, the data from Europe and from the U.S. indicate that it is women who have most been placed at risk of avoidable prema- ture death,” said the peer-re- viewed study carried out by David Jones, director of The Anscombe Centre for Bioeth- ics, an Oxford-based institute serving the Catholic Church in the U.K. and the Irish Re- public. In a news release Feb. 15, Jones said his study repre- sented “further evidence that legalising assisted suicide or euthanasia will result in more A new study shows violent suicides increase in countries with le- galised euthanasia. PHOTO: CNS/MIKE SEGAR, REUTERS people ending their lives pre- maturely.” “It will not save lives. It will not help prevent suicide,” he said. “Legalising what is euphe- mistically called ‘assisted dy- ing’ will endanger the lives of older people living with seri- ous illness,” he added. “We must say very clearly to all people irrespective of age, disability or illness, that they should not be made to feel that they are a burden to the community. They are full members of our society and the human family. We are all enriched by their presence.” In a paper co-published with David Paton of Not- tingham University in 2015, Jones said data from the U.S. has shown no reduction in non-assisted suicide in those states that permit the practice. The authors found instead that the introduction of as- sisted suicide was associated with a significant increase in all types of suicides, with some evidence of increases in non-assisted suicides. In Europe, a growing num- ber of countries now permit assisted dying in either the form of euthanasia -- the di- rect killing of a patient by a doctor, which is legal in the Netherlands, Belgium, Lux- embourg and Spain -- or by assisted suicide, which is legal in such countries as Switzer- land, Austria and Germany and involves patients being helped to take their own lives. Other countries are under pressure to change the laws, and activists have mounted an aggressive campaign to legalise “assisted dying” in all parts of the U.K. and Ireland, often claiming that assisted suicide would result in fewer violent suicides. I n this edition News Movies, books Archbishop’s homily Editorial & Letters 1-13 10-11 37 40-41 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 Adam Wesselinoff (02) 9390 5400 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 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 5223. The Catholic Weekly is published by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney ABN 60 471 267 587 and is printed by Spotpress Pty Ltd, 24-26 Lilian Fowler Place, Marrickville NSW 2204. DOWNLOAD THE OUR FAITH OUR WORKS APP Your one-stop location for Mass and Confession times, spiritual reflections and meditations, podcasts, local Catholic news, the Go Make Disciples mission plan, and much more. To download the app visit ourfaithourworks.org/app or scan the QR Code. MP enables NSWeuthanasia vote FROM P1 MLCs succeeded in pass- ing a substantial number of amendments to produce a more balanced report. Even pro-euthanasia Greens MLC Cate Faehrmann noted that the minutes “changed the balance and tone of the final report”. The inquiry received around 39,000 responses to a question- naire on the bill and over 3000 submissions, of which 107 were published. Almost 68% of respondents to the questionnaire were in favour of the bill; nevertheless the committee acknowledged the “questionnaire was not in- tended as a statistically valid, random survey … respondents are unlikely to be a represent- ative sample of the NSW pop- ulation”. Archbishop Anthony Fisher OP appeared as a witness dur- ing the inquiry’s public hearings inDecember 2021 alongside the GrandMufti of Australia. “The proposition that hu- man life is invaluable has been part of the common morality of the great civilisations, the best secular philosophies, the com- mon law tradition, internation- al human rights documents, the pre-Christian Hippocratic oath, the codes of the World Medical Association and the Australian Medical Associa- tion, and the world’s great reli- gions,” Archbishop Fisher said in his evidence. The report noted that the Church’s opposition was not solely grounded in the view that suicide is “interfering with God’s will”. “Rather, they told the com- mittee that it reflects a funda- mental shift and disruption to the social fabric, which impacts religious and non-religious people alike,” the report stated. The bill was introduced into the Legislative Council by Labor MLC Adam Searle im- mediately after the report was tabled.