Faith is thriving in the heart of Manchester

Jesuit.org.uk

As the academic year draws to a close at the Manchester Universities’ Catholic Chaplaincy, students have been celebrating two important events at Holy Name Church.

The first is the reception of eight people into the Catholic Church after their year long journey of faith. The second is the commissioning of seventeen Eucharistic Ministers after the reintroduction of Holy Communion under both kinds. Both moments revealed the thriving faith of young people right at the heart of Manchester.

Each year the Chaplaincy organises an RCIA Program (Rite for Christian Initiation of Adults) running throughout the academic year. The course covers the most important areas of the Catholic Faith from the Sacraments to Social Teaching and devotion to Our Lady. It aims to be an open and honest conversation about Catholicism so

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In March 2021, the ‘reasonable foreseeability’ of death criterion was removed from MAID laws. As a result, Dr Kim remarked that “it’s indisputable that a person with a chronic illness … would [qualify] for MAID” now.

Mental illness

However, Canada’s MAID provisions are soon likely to be expanded further. From March 2024, persons whose “sole underlying medical condition is a mental illness” are set to become eligible for MAID. This extension of MAID had previously been due to come into effect this year but has been delayed by a year. Criticising the lack of protections offered in the proposals, Dr Kim explained “I believe one of the reasons why … mental illness MAID has been delayed is because the committee that was charged with coming up with safeguards published a report which really didn’t have any safeguards”. Addressing claims that MAID for people with mental illness will be uncommon, Dr Kim warned “I think to say that [MAID for mental illness] is going to be rare is not a factual statement”.

Prof Lemmens also disputed the assertion that Canada’s government was forced by a ruling of its Supreme Court to expand MAID to people with mental illness, pointing out that the “Supreme Court … never ruled on circumstances related to mental illness and it explicitly stated in its reasons that it was not looking at cases … of mental illness”.

Members of the HSCSC were clearly concerned by the evidence presented from Canada. James Morris MP asked “Doesn’t this just lead potentially to a slippery slope where we’re opening up assisted dying to a whole range of potential mental health conditions … an incurable mental health condition is itself a pretty contested definition … the interpretation that candidates can allow their sense of belonging to deepen. Their year-long journey of faith culminated in a mass celebrated on the Feast of Pentecost on 28th May by Bishop Terence Brain at which they received the Sacraments. It was a deeply moving celebration for those who had accompanied them as well as for the whole community at Holy Name.

Since the closure of the Chaplaincy Building by the Diocese of Salford, the Chaplains have been working out of a prefabricated building on Oxford Road right opposite the Students’ Union. Some of those received into the Church admitted that they first started to enquire about Catholicism after seeing the building and deciding to drop in for a chat. The situation is far from ideal since the building is cramped, providing neither facilities for cooking nor rooms for individual conversations. However, thanks to the hard work of Chaplains and students, it has become a regular port of call and the definitions here are pretty loose and isn’t that quite dangerous?”

‘Physician shopping’

Although Canada allows medics to refuse to participate in MAID, Prof Lemmens warned of “a duty of effective referral” that “risk[s] having a couple of very, let’s say flexible, physicians … who may attract a large majority of cases. This is a phenomenon of ‘physician shopping’.” Prof Lemmens, questioning the quality of palliative care and disability support provision in his country, later told the inquiry how it is “often easier … to have access to MAID than to have access to… very important disability support”.

Dr Kim further outlined the dangers of the Canadian system for vulnerable people arguing that in introducing a system like MAID, “you create a new set of vulnerabilities” relating to “[those] we traditionally think as a society we should connect with, engage with and support”. The law as it stands is such that he warned “I don’t believe there are safeguards that can fix the problem”.

In closing, Dr Kim explained that despite the name ‘Medical Assistance In Dying’, “less than 1 in 1000” MAID deaths in Canada were cases of assisted suicide, with almost all being euthanasia at the hands of a physician. He summarised Canadian practice as “a very aggressive medical delivery system of euthanasia”.

The Netherlands and Belgium

Earlier in the morning, the HSCSC had heard evidence from experts concerning euthanasia practice in the Netherlands and Belgium.

In response to attempts by Paul Blomfield MP to make a parallel between “palliative sedation” in end-of-life care, such as that practised in the UK, and euthanasia, Irene Tuffrey-Wijne, for young people where they can deepen their sense of belonging through conversations and friendship.

The reception of communion under both kinds was prohibited during the pandemic by the Bishop’s Conference of England and Wales for health reasons. It was reintroduced on Maundy Thursday this year at the discretion of local Bishops. Rather than dragging their feet, the Chaplains decided to seize this opportunity at once. Seventeen Eucharistic Ministers, most of them students, were invited to take up the ministry. Over the course of three evening sessions, Fr Peter Scally taught the basics of Eucharistic Theology and the pastoral knowledge they would need to become a Eucharistic Minister.

The commissioning took place on the 14th and 15th May during mass. During the rite, they were reminded to observe Jesus’ commandment: ‘love one another as I have loved you’. They then committed themselves to serve in building up the Church by becoming Eucharistic Ministers, resolving to administer the Body and Blood of Christ with utmost reverence and care. The hearts of the congregation were moved at the sight of so

Professor of Intellectual Disability and Palliative Care at Kingston University, explained that “the intention of palliative care is to … relieve suffering; the intention is not to bring about death”, which is “a fundamental difference in principle” from euthanasia.

Perhaps the most shocking moment of the hearing came when Prof Tuffrey-Wijne confirmed to the Committee that tinnitus is a permitted reason for assisted suicide in the Netherlands and had been approved as a basis for euthanasia.

Concerns over people with disabilities

Tinnitus was not the only area of concern with regard to Dutch practice that was highlighted to the inquiry. Prof Tuffrey-Wijne, speaking about her area of expertise, explained in answer to a question from Chris Green MP that “people with disabilities in autism find it more difficult to really weigh up information and to consider alternatives”. She explained how such difficulties had led vulnerable people to choose euthanasia.

Prof Tuffrey-Wijne warned more broadly about how societal attitudes meant people with disabilities were particularly vulnerable to euthanasia provisions. She noted how “there is an underlying unconscious bias, I think, from society that disability and dependence is difficult to live with … the implicit message that maybe death is preferable to life in your situation.”

Child Euthanasia

In the Netherlands, there were 8,720 cases of euthanasia in 2022, accounting for 5.1% of all deaths in the country. And yet, the government has recently announced plans to follow Belgium in permitting euthanasia for children of all ages. At present, children over the age of 12 and infants up to one year old are eligible for euthanasia in the Netherlands. One of the many young people dedicating themselves to this important ministry. most remarkable moments of Tuesday’s hearing was when Caroline Johnson MP, herself a paediatrician, asked about the ‘Groningen Protocol’, which regulates the euthanasia of infants in the country. In reply, Professor Rutger Jan van der Gaag, former President of the Royal Dutch Medical Association, incorrectly claimed the protocol only relates to the withdrawal of ventilation from babies who would otherwise die, saying “there’s no active termination.” In reality, the Protocol allows for non-terminally ill babies with conditions such as spina bifida to be euthanised.

Of course, the communion wine used during the mass at Holy Name is blended according to Fr Peter’s top secret recipe. It is far cheaper than the mass wine bought from suppliers and tastes even better!

The Holy Name Church has been experiencing something of a rebirth after the pandemic, with mass attendance returning to pre-pandemic levels and then increasing. Unfortunately, the old chaplaincy building is now falling into disrepair with plaster falling from the ceiling and problems with burst pipes. No plan has yet been made by the Diocese of Salford for its redevelopment.

Eduard Verhagen, the Protocol’s author, recently co-published a paper explaining “the goal of the Protocol is to allow parents and doctors to end the life of infants in cases where the infant is suffering unbearably with no hope for improvement, but is neither actively dying nor dependent on medical technology (e.g. a ventilator) for life. Under the Protocol, physicians may administer substances to the infant to rapidly and painlessly end the infant’s life when specific criteria are met”. Many of the assumptions behind the Protocol have been widely criticised.

“We must continue to resist pressure to loosen the law”

Right To Life UK spokesperson Catherine Robinson said “the radical and expanding nature of euthanasia practices in Canada and the Netherlands is indeed a ‘warning to the world’. Both jurisdictions remind us that safeguards are soon eroded when euthanasia is permitted and people with mental illness, intellectual disabilities and children become particularly vulnerable. It is good that the HSCSC was able to hear evidence from these countries and we must continue to resist pressure to loosen the law in the UK”.