Today in Church History
1385 In Germany, the University of Heidelberg was founded under Pope Urban VI as a college of the Cistercian order. (Among its faculties today are theology, law, medicine and philosophy.)
Churches in Pakistan join condemnations of suicide attacks
Islamabad, Pakistan, Oct. 22, 2007 (CINS / Ekklesia) - Churches in Pakistan have joined in widespread condemnation of the bomb blasts that killed 139 people people and injured over 500 among the crowds thronging the streets to welcome former prime minister Benazir Bhutto home from her self-imposed exile.
Ecumenical, Protestant and Catholic leaders, a small and often under-pressure minority in the largely Muslim nation, have joined the appeal for calm, the restoration of order, and addressing political differences without violence.
Archbishop Lawrence John Saldanha of Lahore Catholic archdiocese strongly deplored the suicide attacks on Pakistan’s former premier’s welcome gathering in Karachi, in a statement issued late last week.
The head of the Catholic bishop's conference said that there should be a fair and speedy enquiry into the incident. He urged people of all faiths to work for peace, harmony and reconciliation in the country.
A joint press statement from Saldanha and Peter Jacob, chair and executive secretary of the Churches' National Commission for Justice and Peace, declared: “We strongly condemn this loss of innocent lives and express solidarity and condolences with the families of the deceased.”
They continued: “We consider the killings at Karachi an act of extreme cowardice and terrorism and demand that the government should ensure the safety of the lives of citizens. We also demand a fair and prompt enquiry of the tragic incident and strict action against the culprits. We also call upon citizens irrespective of religion, cast and creed to work for peace and harmony in the country”.
Ms Bhutto said after the attack that she plans to continue to live in the country, working for democracy. She was not going to be deterred by carnage or threats, she said, adding that courage for peace and justice was owed to those who had lost their lives.
The suicide attack left at least 139 people dead, including three police officers. Current estimates suggest more than 560 have been injured. The authorities expect the figures to rise.
Church teaching rich in lessons on dying well
Kansas City, Canada, Oct.22, 2007 (CINS /Catholic Key) - How a person dies has everything to do with how a person lives, three experts from three fields told an audience at St. Thomas More Parish Oct. 4.An attorney, a physician and a priest all told the nearly 200 people at a special "Catholic Art of Dying Well" seminar that church teaching offers rich guidance in the legal, medical and spiritual challenges of dying.
Be informed of those teachings well in advance, they told their audience at the two-hour seminar sponsored by the St. Thomas More Respect Life Committee.
"Unfortunately," said parish pastor Father Don Farnan, "the tendency for many of us is to inform ourselves only to the degree that it justifies the action we want to take, not the action that God wants us to take."
He recalled the words of St. Therese of Lisieux, the "Little Flower," who died when she was 24 from tuberculosis: "I would not ever have suffered less."
It's OK to fear death, Father Farnan said.
"It's normal to fear that which we do not know," he said. "We know that everybody wants to get to heaven, but nobody wants to die to get there."
Following the challenge of the prophet Micah to "act justly, love tenderly and walk humbly with the Lord," will prepare a person through life to a destiny with God in heaven, Father Farnan said.
"The end of a good life should be like the end of a good, hard day's work," he said. "It should be exhausting and exhilarating. We should go to our rest knowing we did everything we could."
Father Farnan reminded the audience that "we are part of something greater than ourselves. So is our suffering."
"We are all part of God's family," he said. "One day he is going to call us home and that home will be to life with him."
But the issue of dying today has been clouded by legal and medical questions, attorney Terry L. Williams and Dr. Jeff Bredemann said.
Williams stressed to his audience that it is vitally important to have a living will, advance health care directives, and a "health care proxy" giving a specified person the powers to make decisions in the event of incapacitation.
At the seminar, copies of those documents produced by the National Catholic Bioethics Center were distributed as guides. Additional copies can be ordered from the center at 6399 Drexel Road, Philadelphia, PA 19151-2511, or by e-mail at orders@ncbcenter.org.
In every estate plan he makes for every client, "a living will is part of the package," Williams said.
"A living will speaks for me at the end of my life to refuse medical treatment that would only prolong the dying process," he said. "It says, 'Pull the plug, and let me die with grace naturally, the way God intended."
The church also teaches that "extraordinary" means that only prolong the dying process and create an undue burden are not necessary. However, he noted, the church clearly states that nutrition and hydration may not be denied even to a person in a "persistent vegetative state," and even if that person must be given food and water artificially through tubes.
He also warned of the movement toward the "physician-assisted suicide" of terminally ill patients. Terminally ill patients will feel pressure to end their lives long before the disease has run its course, he said, citing Holland where physician-assisted suicide has been decriminalized.
"It's evolved to such an extent that in Holland, the rate of euthanasia is so high that it is now known as 'The Dutch Cure,'" Williams said. "Make no mistake: When death is proclaimed as a 'right,' it will soon be proclaimed as a 'duty.'"
Bredemann, an anesthesiologist, recalled talking to a teenager before the youth was to undergo a minor procedure.
"He said, 'I want to say just one thing. If something goes wrong, I want you to bring me back to life and save my life. Whatever you do, don't listen to my Mom,'" Bredemann joked.
"Our culture is obsessed with death and it's not healthy," he said. "Our society is trying to instill in us the need to die efficiently and cheaply. Satan loves death. He is going to be there, and you have to do everything you can to be ready."
Bredemann cited a "mentality of shortage" that dates to Age of Reason economist Thomas Malthus which states that too many people are taxing the earth's resources.
"'Too many people' became 'too many of the wrong kind of people,' and it's had a devastating effect on every aspect of society," Bredemann said. "It has brought the annihilation of hundreds of millions of people."
Knowledge of a terminal illness "is a gift," Bredemann said.
"How we die makes a difference," he said. "Death is a public event. It is very personal, but it is not private. Death is our destiny. It's what Christ came to earth to help us with.
"We don't have to be gripped with fear," Bredemann said. "You are going to be judged, not only by Christ, but by your families. You want to give them something good."
The physician urged people who know they are dying to "use that time."
"When you are near death, there are things you need to be doing - forgiving people, telling people you are proud of them, telling them that you know they have what it takes when it is their time," Bredemann said.
"The world is not a pain-free place, but it is awfully good," he said. "You've got family. You've got other people who are counting on you. Either life has meaning for every person, or it has meaning for none."
Today in Church History
1978 Pope John Paul II installed
Food for Thought: Mistaken Church
Not 100 in the United States hate the Roman Catholic Church, but millions hate what they mistakenly think the Roman Catholic Church is.
- Bishop Fulton J. Sheen
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