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1. I went to the link for The Age and read the very carefully prepared story on Angie's suffering and preparations to commit euthanasia.
   
   When I read Bishop Prowse's response I am sad because although it is couched in terms of compassion for Angie, it still misses the point, that those contemplating euthanasia don't have anything to show them 'another way'.
   
   Dr Death's publicity machine is winning many converts and our Catholic and Christian Churches are losing support in this battle beacuse all we can say is that 'suicide is wrong'.
   
   How is it wrong doesn't matter in the least to people who are suffering the terror of pain and vulnerability of a terminal illness.
   
   Why is it right to continue to suffer and endure to the last is the question we, believers, should be contemplating and supporting the ill to live with.
   
   It's not good enough to quote a 'satisfaction' rate regarding palliative care when the facts are there that show that in a lot of cases with terminal illness, such as the cancer that Angie had, palliative care pain relief does not take away the suffering because it can't.
   
   If we are going to have integrity as a Church in this matter, we must have something of substance to offer the suffering and their families that will challenge the idea that choice for euthanasia is the only real alternative to living to the last with the pain and discomfort of a terminal illness.

   Posted By: Fr Mick Mac Andrew, Bombala NSW

2. This poor lady's situation was horrible. The agony of advanced bone cancer is beyond words.
   I would leave making a judgment on her action until I've been in her shoes.
   I would hope that faith would always help me deal with the most painful events in life. But the agony of terminal cancer which cannot be fully controlled with the most powerful of drugs, can seriously distort will.
   While I understand & agree with the Bishop's affirmation about the value & dignity of life....I totally disagree with the rest of his comments.
   His choice of a word like 'glamourisation' of suicide in such a case as this, reflects lack of understanding about the horrors of such suffering.....& its psychological consequences. 'Glamour' has nothing to do with it. Human tragedy, yes. Not glamour.
   Frankly, that comment was insensitive to the lady herself....& her family who would have experienced the horrors at first-hand while she sank further & further into agony.
   I have no easy answers for a person caught in such a situation. I know, as I've said, I would hope that somehow faith would prevail. But maybe the agony that can't be controlled, leads some people to make their own act of faith that somehow God will understand.
   I don't know. I wouldn't judge them. And 'glamour' has nothing to do with it.
   

   Posted By: Marie H

3. The bottom line...
   
   Jesus didn't commit Euthanasia because things were getting too painful.

   Posted By: Joey

4. Judging our actions is precisely what the Church is charged to do....to judge our actions and inform us what is right and wrong, to uphold the Law of God in all circumstances. Judging the state of the Soul is God's province alone. But anyone with a rightly formed conscience has a right and a DUTY to judge the actions of his brother. The Church especially, as the Visible Manifestation of the Body of Chist and the Kingdom of God has not only the RIGHT but the DUTY to properly form consciences and therefore the RIGHT and the DUTY to proclaim judgments on actions.

   Posted By: Tim Scheidler

5. How sad.
   
   Here is a web site by Fr Ron Rolheiser that may help those who are left behind struggling .
   http://www.ronrolheiser.com/columnarchive/search_detail.php?rec_id=418

   Posted By: Chris

6. Well said, Father Mick. As so often, you see the essential core of a problem.
   Joey, Jesus was God. Last time I looked, the rest of us are humans. And the amazing thing is that God loves us, human tho' we are.
   Tim, writing in capital letters doesn't change my mind that I have no right to judge my fellow human being. Comment on....yes. I understand what Fr Mick is saying about the frequent lack of understanding re finding another way. Dr N's 'one way' chills me.
   I also know that psychological processes....like resilience & will to endure....are eroded by severe suffering & also as a consequence of powerful drugs.
   Angie is in the good hands of the Lord, now. I have fatih that the Lord will deal with her kindly.

   Posted By: Marie H

7. Marie H, there is no such thing as cancer pain or any other type of pain "which cannot be fully controlled with the most powerful of drugs", condemning people to "sink further & further into agony". Like many, you have been misled by a lie invented to scare people into giving in to the possibility of euthanasia.

   Posted By: Peter G (pharmacist)

8. Peter G, not true. My brother died a few months back after a 3 year long battle with cancer. Being well-off, he could afford the best of medical care. Both at the treatment stage & at the palliative care stage.
   What he suffered in his last months was appalling.
   A tall man whose spine literally crumbled. And he'd always been a resilient & brave person.
   My father also died of cancer & the same was true. Best of treatment care, then best of palliative care.
   His suffering was appalling, too, in his last weeks.
   Interesting that all the considerations of a painful & often terminal condition such as cancer, tends to stay with treatments & then pain management medications. Very little is spoken about the psychological & mental consequences. Yet that is where the will to endure resides. Oddly, it's the area that both those urging euthanasia & those against it, ignore.
   My sister-in-law, diagnosed wth aggressive & ultimately terminal cancer, made the decision not to have any treatment which might have bought her more time. But she said she wanted to avoid the long-drawn out deaths of her mother and my father with cancer. She asked me did I know any group that helped people to take their own life. As a Catholic, I could not help with this, but I was touched by her trust in me. I finally got her to accept counselling from a highly experienced person involved with Karuna (Buddhist-based) palliative care. I don't know what was said, but my sister-in-law never mentiioned suicide again.
   She still refused any treatment as what she feared was not the time of death itself (where drugs do make things easier) but the long, painful road towards that point. Which she'd seen others have to take.
   
   

   Posted By: Marie H

9. Marie H, what I said is perfectly true. Your original claim that people are hopelessly writhing in uncontrollable pain is false. You have now changed your claim to the obvious truism that there are some diseases which cannot be cured.
   
   What a pity that when your relative asked you for help, presumably knowing you to be a Catholic, you sent her off to a Buddhist instead of a Catholic who could help her.
   The Catholic Church does not condemn those who take their own lives because of severe psychological and mental impairment. It has not ignored this area, although the euthanasia promoters do their best to suppress any discussion or awareness of it.
   
   

   Posted By: Peter G

10. Surely Christ's promise of life to the full and the hope of the resurrection, evidenced in Our Lord Himself, snd his call to faith in him are sufficient antidote to rationalised suicide, Fr Mick Mac Andrew?

    Posted By: Jimmy

11. We shouldn't end one's life just because they are in pain. Do we not have every means with our modern methods of care and medicine to control the pains of these people suffering in agony?
    
    The effect of giving the person a right to die infers that it is ok for a mother to commit abortion, does it not?
    
    We mustn't resort to Euthanasia. We don't kill a person just because they are depressed or suffering from a mental disease - we love them and treat them with the same respect every person deserves.
    
    Therefore, the same goes for people who are suffering in dire circumstances - we mustn't have any intentions of killing them. We have all the resources available to control any such physical pain.

    Posted By: John-Paul S

12. Furthermore, as an 18 year old, I already know how tough life can be. I almost died of shingles at the beginning of 2008, which ended my Rugby League career with the Penrith Panthers in the S.G. Ball competition.
    
    However, I used this time of immense suffering and pain as an opportunity to come closer to our Lord, (If he really was so loving, why had he allowed this to happen, affecting my one love- Rugby League).
    
    It was a means for me to turn to him and reform my life, and not allowing doubt to prevail me. I prayed for an acceptance of this suffering (which is something we must emphasize on) - and Jesus said, "Do not be afraid". It was like I had just been purged, just like a piece of wood burning away in fire.
    
    League had ended, but life for me had just begun.
    
    We must emphasize more on suffering and how it can be something beautiful. How, when we unite our pains with that of Our Lord's during his Passion, miracles do truly happen.
    
    We mustn't give up the fight, no matter how painful life can be.
    
    I am a living witness to how I found life, not death, through suffering.
    
    At the end of the day, we must pray for those who suffering physically, mentally and especially spiritually.
    
    I'm now a postulant with the Capuchin Friars.

    Posted By: John-Paul Sialafau

13. Thank you for sharing your wonderful story John-Paul. Have you thought of publishing a full-length magazine article, or even a book, about your story? I'm sure many people would find it very inspiring and helpful.

    Posted By: Ronk

14. Hey Ronk, I haven't considered it. Maybe if, God willing, I become a priest, I'll have sufficient knowledge and wisdom to do so. Nevertheless, I thank you for your affirming words. I hope God uses me to draw many young men and women back to him. Please pray for me, and for more labourers in the vineyard. We need young men to take up the call. Dominus vobiscum.

    Posted By: John-Paul S

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