Next week Lord Joffe's Bill on ‘Euthanasia and Assisted Dying’ will be debated again in Parliament.  A few weeks ago, Archbishop Peter Smith wrote to all parishes informing them of the Care Not Killing initiative.  The CES, in collaboration with teacher colleagues, has designed an assembly for use in schools and colleges which identifies the main issues involved in the legislation and how we as a community are called to uphold life, the dignity of the human person and the right to die well.  The Rapid Response Service of Heythrop Institute for Religion, Ethics and Public Life indicated

“to live and die well is to live and die in a society which understands my value and can demand that I live and express that value to the full, even in my dying.  This is a society in which everyone can flourish.  Incapacity, the consequences of decline or illness are not something to be feared or erosions of dignity, but occasions when we experience how valued we are in this we begin to glimpse something of that ‘civilization of love’ which triumphs over suffering and death.”

The assembly will be downloadable from the CES website tomorrow morning (5 May 06) by following the instructions below. Because of its size it is preferable to make available via the website rather than dispatching by email. It has already been seen by a number of diocesan officers who have given it their unequivocal support.

I hope that you too find the assembly helpful in your ministry of leadership and formation. You may find you only wish to use part of this presentation because of the maturity of your pupils. I attach the full text of Heythrop Institute’s Rapid Response to Lord Joffe’s Bill and the importance of the ‘Value of Living and Dying’. In just over four pages this response rehearses the Church’s teaching on the dignity of life and concern over what is proposed in the Bill. 

Finally, may I express my thanks to Father Joseph Quigley, Therese Gordon, Andy Mathias, Clive Wright and Dawn Casserly for sharing so generously their creativity and passion in writing and designing this assembly.

Yours sincerely,

Oona Stannard

Chief Executive

Powerpoint to come.