Fr Steadman emphasised that all human life is a gift from God and has intrinsic meaning and value. Photo: Josh Low.
Walking together with those suffering and nearing the end of their lives with love, compassion and understanding was at the core of Fr Conor Steadman’s message during his talk on euthanasia at St Mary’s Cathedral on 16 June.
Assistant Priest at the Cathedral with a licence in moral theology and background in bioethics, Fr Steadman delivered his talk to the parish youth as part of their monthly ‘Youth Encounter’ event.
Fr Steadman began by emphasising that all human life is a gift from God and has intrinsic meaning and value.
“However reduced our condition might be because of sickness or disability, each one of us has a radical dignity from the moment that we are conceived until we draw our last breath.
“To say that we are human beings means that each one of us, simply by being what are, has a unique dignity, and this can never be taken away,” he said.
“It means that there is something so worthwhile about each one of us that certain things should never be done to us.”
He explained that the dignity of the human person is not based on ‘how smart or pretty we are, how big our muscles are, our ability to make money, or how much we can contribute to society.
“As long as we are part of the human family we have human dignity. It cannot be taken away, even if you can’t wash yourself, go to the bathroom by yourself, are in pain, or even unconscious.
“This is the basis of our equality and our human rights. It is the reason that we protect even the most vulnerable. While every moral means should be used to relieve a patient’s suffering, doctors must never kill their patients,” he said.
“Sometimes there is nothing more practically and ethically that can be done, but to invest themselves in the loving palliative care of the patients.
“This has not only been the teaching of the Catholic Church, in following faithfully the teachings of Her Master and Shepherd for the past two thousand years, but also of all secular codes of medical ethics from time immemorial.”
Assistant Priest at the Cathedral with a licence in moral theology and background in bioethics, Fr Steadman delivered his talk to the parish youth as part of their monthly ‘Youth Encounter’ event.
Fr Steadman explained that killing the suffering person is not the reasonable way to deal with suffering, and emphasised the need for appropriate pain management and pastoral care.
“Yes we need to be compassionate with those who suffer, but euthanasia seeks a misguided compassion, which eliminates the person rather than relieving the individual of their suffering.
“If mercy is really what drives us to relieve a person’s suffering and pain, then we should do everything that we can to do so. Every person could and should have the benefit of appropriate pain management and pastoral care,” he said.
He added by warning of the dangers euthanasia could lead to in the future in compromising the value of human life.
“In places where euthanasia has been legalized, it is has gradually been extended to more and more people. In fact, a social expectation could also end up developing; that the sick, elderly, disabled, or those who simply cannot or do not contribute to society would be better off dead
“People who fit into these categories would then need to justify their continued existence, especially in the face of increasing medical costs.
“Imagine that; being sick and having to justify to your family or your friends or your doctor why you should have the right to continue going on living.
“If euthanasia is just about relieving suffering, then I think we need to be very realistic about where this will end up.
“Because euthanasia can be used to relieve the suffering not only of dying people but also the seriously sick, the mentally ill, those tired of life, as we saw in the case of Professor David Goodall who ended his own life in Switzerland on the 10 May with a lethal injection of pentobarbital provided to him by his healthcare professionals.”
He added that the pleas of gravely ill people who sometimes ask for death should not be understood as implying a true desire for euthanasia.
“In fact it is almost always a case of an anguished plea for help and love,” he said.
“What a sick person needs, besides medical care and appropriate pain management, is love; the human and supernatural warmth with which the sick person can and ought to be surrounded by all those close to him or her, parents and children, doctors and nurses.
“Palliative care with love is the appropriate response. The gravely ill and dying ought never to feel that they are a burden on us, or even worse on the economic or healthcare system.
“They should never feel alone on this their final adventure of life,” he said.
Fr Steadman concluded by referencing the Church’s 1980 document on Euthanasia.
“Life is a gift of God, and on the other hand, death is unavoidable.
“It is necessary, therefore, that we, without in any way hastening the hour of death, should be able to accept it with full responsibility and dignity.
“It is true that death marks the end of our earthly existence, but at the same time it opens the door to immortal life.
“Therefore, all must prepare themselves for this event in the light of human values, and Christians even more so in the light of faith,” he said.