Daily Archives: June 23, 2012

The LMS London Conference…

Saturday, June 23, 2012

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I thought I’d put up a post about the LMS Conference before returning to tales from my Rome trip. The Conference was scheduled for the day after I returned, so I was a little shell-shocked, as well as having had to cope with Monsignor Miaowrini’s fit of the sulks!

I arrived part-way through the talk by Stuart McCullough from the Good Counsel Network. Fortunately Joseph Shaw, the LMS Chairman, has links for the MP3 file of his talk, and the one by Dr. John Rao which preceded it. There are also links to the talks for Fr. Tim Finigan and Fr. John Zuhlsdorf, though sadly something prevented Rev. John Hunwicke’s talk from being recorded. The talks were really excellent, and I am looking forward to the next LMS Conference, as this first effort was such a resounding success!

Almost more important than the talks, the breaks allowed time for people to catch up with old friends and make some new ones. I was delighted to get a chance to meet Marygold Turner – she has been a stalwart member of the LMS, and has been responsible for keeping the Traditional Latin Mass going in the Kent/Southwark region through the bad old days where the Mass could only be held on the third Sunday of any month without an “r” in it…

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Yes, I’m exaggerating just a bit, but her dedication and hard work has ensured a steady supply of priests for the TLM before

Summorum Pontificum

, some of whom travel quite some distance!

I introduced myself to the Rev. (soon-to-be-Father) John Hunwicke, and was astonished when he quoted from my profile: “Ahh… so, you’re the young Catholic woman, aren’t you? See! I read your blog!!” Yes, I’m name-dropping!!

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The inimitable Fr. Z was on great form – though he claimed to be pretty much out of it due to the medication he was taking for a really bad cold…

I also got to meet up with many other bloggers, including – and here I’m bound to offend someone by missing them out – that

Reluctant Sinner, Dylan Parry

, Annie from

Arundel & Brighton

,

Annie Elizabeth

(who came shopping with me afterwards so I could make the purple pompom for the mini-biretta and get some cardinal-red feathers for the

Vatileaks photo-shoot

), and Supertradmum from

Etheldreda’s Place

… (

UPDATE: I knew I’d forget someone important! The lovely and very sensible Ches introduced himself before having to dash off somewhere, but that is no excuse for omitting to mention him!!

)

Last, but definitely not least, I was able to renew my acquaintance with Brother Nicodemus of the Transalpine Redemptorists at Home, and to meet Fr. Michael Mary (the Superior), Brother Martin and Tom. The sheer joy and enthusiasm which radiated from them was incredibly uplifting. Annie Elizabeth and I persuaded them to come along to the pub for a chat afterwards, and the sight of four monks striding into a west-end bar caused quite a stir…

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(If you’re wondering why there are only three of them, it’s because Brother Nicodemus was on the bookstall… and anyway he seemed a little camera-shy!!)

You can see the rest of the photos on my Flickr page.

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The LMS London Conference…

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Corbella: The Slippery Slope of Euthanasia

Saturday, June 23, 2012


By Licia Corbella – Calgary Herald – June 22, 2012

The following column by Licia Corbella that was published in the Calgary Herald on June 22, 2012 under the title: The Slippery Slope of Euthanasia.

“I want the legal right to die peacefully, at the time of my own choosing, in the embrace of my family and friends.”

Those are the words of Gloria Taylor, the 64-year-old woman at the centre of a landmark B.C. Supreme Court ruling that strikes down Canada’s prohibition against physician-assisted suicide (PAS).

What’s ironic about Taylor’s statement is if she gets her legal right to die at the time of her own choosing, evidence shows that the right of many others to continue living will be jeopardized. That is the unintended consequence and irony behind euthanasia and PAS: Some people get the right to choose how and when to die and others don’t have the right to choose anything — ever again — because they will be involuntarily killed by their physicians.

That is what the evidence stemming from years of PAS shows in countries like the Netherlands and Belgium.

On June 15, Justice Lynn Smith ruled that the prohibition against PAS violates two section of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms — the right to equality and the right to life, liberty and the security of the person.

Because Taylor suffers from ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, Smith ruled that Taylor’s right to equality is violated since her disability would make it impossible for her to kill herself, which is the right of every other able bodied Canadian. Smith has given Parliament one year to rewrite the law, however, it’s more likely that her ruling will be appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada.

In her 286-page ruling, Smith refers to many comprehensive reports from the Netherlands and Belgium that clearly demonstrate that thousands of people have been killed without their consent by physicians, and yet she accepts the conclusion of pro-euthanasia experts that there is little evidence of a “slippery slope” or danger to society by turning the tables on the age-old rule against the premeditated killing of another human being.

But Alex Schadenberg, executive director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition — an intervener in this case — said simply quoting pro-euthanasia proponents claiming that a slippery slope doesn’t exist, doesn’t mean it’s true.

When physician-assisted suicide became a common practice in Holland about 30 years ago, the guidelines were that only terminally ill elderly people in excruciating pain who were not depressed and repeatedly asked for euthanasia would be eligible for euthanasia.

“Now, people suffering from psychiatric illnesses, youth and even infants are killed by their physicians in the Netherlands,” said Schadenberg. “If that’s not a slippery slope, I don’t know what is.” Heck, if that’s not a slippery slope, then neither is Mount Everest.

Smith refers to a series of highly regarded reports colloquially named the Remmelink reports, after Prof. Jan Remmelink, attorney general of the High Council of the Netherlands. In his first report in 1990, it was determined that 1,031 hospital patients were killed without their consent or knowledge. Of those 1,031 people, 14 per cent were found to be fully competent, 72 per cent had never expressed that they wanted their lives ended, and in eight per cent of the cases, doctors carried out “involuntary euthanasia” even though they believed other options were still available.

Catch that? Mull over those numbers. They speak of horror. And don’t be fooled by the euphemisms. Involuntary euthanasia is a shifty way of saying premeditated murder.

As Smith points out in her ruling, “similar studies were conducted in 1995, 2001 and 2005. Data were collected in 2010, but the results have yet to be published,” she writes.

“All four studies revealed cases of LAWER in the Netherlands,” writes Smith, referring to the Dutch term that means physician-assisted suicide without request and consent.

“In absolute numbers, there were 1,000 in 1990; 900 in each of 1995 and 2001 and 550 in 2005.”

Get the picture? You can have rules that say you must be old, terminally ill and must have expressed a desire to be killed, and once you allow this to be an accepted practice, doctors might just decide to kill you off and experts are going to shrug it off as “not necessarily proof of a slippery slope.”

Please, I urge all readers to google Remmelink and also the Groningen Protocol, which are the rules surrounding when it’s OK to murder infants not born perfect — including ones suffering only from spina bifida. The Groningen Protocol states that a baby can be killed if it does not need medical treatment but is likely to suffer.

Likely to suffer? Doesn’t that include all of us? Who made these people God? Well, courts did. Legislatures did.

So call your MPs, call the Prime Minister’s Office. Tell them you want them to appeal this dangerous ruling.

Taylor said the following in a news conference this week: “To die screaming at the top of my lungs because the pain is so great that I can’t stand it is something I try not to think about.” It’s terrible what Taylor is going through and I feel deep compassion for her. That’s why, when you call the PM and your MPs, also tell them that you want a comprehensive plan to improve palliative care and end-of-life care in this country so Taylor’s last days can be pain free.

That won’t just make someone’s dying bearable, it just might save your life.

Licia Corbella is a columnist and the editorial page editor. lcorbella@calgaryherald.com

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Corbella: The Slippery Slope of Euthanasia

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Comment of the month

Saturday, June 23, 2012
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Comment of the month

From Dilly on

Blessed Pius IX a bit of a modernist?

When I first saw the picture without my reading glasses, I thought it was a red nun. Probably Pope Pius wisely foresaw that if this outfit were not immediately banned, someone using Image Search on Google might confuse him with Sr Margaret Farley.












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Comment of the month

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Pope: John the Baptist and the call to repentance

Saturday, June 23, 2012

2012-06-24 Vatican Radio

Vatican Radio – On a sunny June Sunday in Rome, Pope Benedict greeted the faithful gathered in St Peter’s Square for the Angelus. June 24

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is the feast of Saint John the Baptist and it was on this figure of the Church that the Pope spoke of before the recitation of the Marian Prayer.

“This Sunday, we celebrate the birth of John the Baptist, the great saint who prepared the way for our Lord. John was a voice, crying in the wilderness, calling God’s people to repentance. Let us heed his voice today, and make room for the Lord in our hearts.”

The Holy Father explained that John’s conception to Mary’s elderly cousin Elizabeth is a sign that “nothing is impossible to God”.

Pope Benedict described John the Baptist as “the forerunner of Jesus, a messenger who prepares the way for the Son of God.

Thirty years later continued the Pope, John begins baptizing people in the Jordan river, hence the name “the Baptist”. He wanted people to repent in preparation for the imminent coming of the Messiah.

God, underlined the Holy Father, had a mission for this great Saint. He was the one to Baptize Jesus and in his own violent death bore witness to the Son of God and was the first to make Jesus known publicly.

Following the recitation of the Angelus, Pope Benedict, speaking in Italian, told those gathered he was making a visit on Tuesday to the areas in Northern Italy hit by a recent earthquake. He expressed the solidarity of the whole church with those affected and he invited the faithful to pray for all those in need.
Listen to Lydia O’Kane’s report

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Pope: John the Baptist and the call to repentance

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Vatican Secretariat of State creates new “Director of Communications” position and fills it with American Greg Burke

Saturday, June 23, 2012

Vatican Secretariat of State creates new “Director of Communications” position and fills it with American Greg Burke

Posted on23 June 2012byFr. John Zuhlsdorf

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