The Voluntary Assisted Dying Act 2022 comes into effect today, 28 November 2023.
This means eligible people in NSW will be able to request medical assistance to end their life.
“Today is a profoundly sad and disappointing day,” Bishop Anthony Randazzo said.
“Assisted suicide is a completely unacceptable solution to the problem of suffering.
“A genuinely human society, and I am sure that’s what we all want, is not how we decide to eliminate those who suffer, but how we care for them.”
NSW is the last state to legislate and activate Voluntary Assisted Dying (VAD).
Advocates for VAD and those who supported the legislation claim the moral high ground, insisting they are the compassionate ones, and those who oppose state-legislated killing are without compassion.
VAD opponents insist it is not “compassionate” to inject someone with lethal drugs, and that VAD doctor-assisted suicide puts the medical profession, who have a duty to care for the ill, elderly and vulnerable, in an impossible situation.
Catholic teaching on VAD flows from our understanding of the human person. VAD contradicts the goodness and dignity of each human person, created in the image of God – a unique, irreplaceable individual.
“The introduction of Voluntary Assisted Dying now into our provision of end-of-life care raises serious challenges for those of us who seek to approach life from the perspective of Christian faith,” Bishop Anthony Randazzo said.
“It will mean that on occasions our own approach to life will be in stark contrast to others, including those close to us in family and friendship. How we both continue to reach out with compassion to those entrusted to our care and at the same time remain true to our Christian conscience will at times be moments of considerable angst.
“It will be important that we live in this tension and not short circuit it with a reliance on one side or the other.
“Each situation will be personal and unique. Our deepest challenge now is to provide a quality of care for those suffering that demonstrates the truth of our humanity, and that by its light teaches others that they need not fear their suffering and their death.”
The Diocese of Broken Bay has published an Interim Pastoral Guideline on Voluntary Assisted Dying for clergy and parishioners.
It can be read or downloaded here.
Australia’s Catholic bishops have also released a new document to guide priests, chaplains and pastoral workers who are asked to provide pastoral support to Catholics who are considering VAD .
The document, To Witness and to Accompany with Christian Hope, is available here.
Archbishop Peter A Comensoli, chair of the Bishops Commission for Life, Family and Public Engagement, said the Church has been confronted with the difficult question of how to attend to the spiritual and pastoral needs of Catholics contemplating VAD.
The focus of the priest or pastoral worker is on providing patients with God’s grace and mercy.
“It is vital that chaplains and pastoral workers have the information to confidently respond to the realities that are facing them as they minister to Catholics in hospitals, in aged care and in their own homes,” Archbishop Comensoli said.
In preparing the document, the bishops consulted widely with a range of people including theologians, ethicists, liturgists and medical doctors. The bishops have also worked with the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.
The document points out that accompanying someone who is expressing a desire for VAD is an act of charity that should be offered in a way that does not require the pastoral companion to suspend their firm commitment to the Church’s clear teaching that VAD is never morally permissible.
And that the tension between supporting a person in contrast to supporting their actions is very familiar to family members, especially spouses, parents and siblings. However, family members should strive to remain faithful to each other despite the disagreements and tensions that arise.”
The document carefully outlines the circumstances in which people can receive sacraments, with the presumption being that the person is acting in good faith.
“By accompanying a person and listening to their griefs, fears and sufferings, as well as offering the Prayers of the Dead after death, we can share with them (and their family) the love of Christ without condoning any choice to intentionally end their life,” the document says.