Denver Catholic

2 I CATHOLIC LIFE OCTOBER 15, 2014 I DENVER CATHOLIC REGISTER ARCHBISHOP'S COLUMN MOST REV. SAMUEL J. AQUILA Brittany Maynard, a 29-year-old married woman with terminal brain cancer, plans to kill herself on Nov. 1, after her husband's birthday. The YouTube video she made to share her story and pro- mote physician-assisted suicide has been viewed 5 million times. Her condition saddens me greatly. But even more tragic is the fact that online commenters have greeted Brittany's announcement by praising her for being so brave, honest, and even selflessness. There is a local angle to this story, too. The group making a push to legalize euthanasia across the country—Com- passion and Choices—has one of its two headquar- tered offices in Denver. The group twists the meaning of dignity by marketing assisted suicide as "death with dignity," but behind their campaign is the culture of death that St. John Paul II warned about. The truth is we have dignity because we are made in God's image and likeness, and when we choose to destroy that image, we deny God and put ourselves in his place. When we dethrone God and trample on his image, the evil one is pleased. Brittany says that she plans to kill herself primarily because she does not want to experience the suffering that comes with the advanced stages of brain cancer. At a purely emotional and physical level, this is understandable. No one wants to suffer. But there is much more to suffering than that. St. John Paul II, who suffered in a very public way at the end of his life, explains this beautifully in his encyclical Evangelium Vitae. The serious suffering of a sick person, he writes, can generate a "misplaced compassion" that is "aggravated by a cultural climate which fails to perceive any meaning or value in suf- fering, but rather considers suffering the epitome of evil, to be eliminated at all costs" (EV, 15). This aversion to suffering is especially strong "in the absence of a religious outlook which could help to provide a positive understanding of the mystery of suffering," he adds. St. John Paul II provides us with an inspiring example of how to respond to suffering without giving in to despair. I am sure that many of you remember his last days as he lay in his bed overlooking St. Peter's Square, a shadow of his former ath- letic self. The master communicator, whose voice had moved millions, could only mumble. In spite of this, St. John Paul drew millions to St. Peter's Square and united them in prayer. And with his last words, "Let me go to the house of the Father," he showed the world that suffering has meaning if it is part of a relationship of love. I pray that Brittany Maynard, and anyone else thinking about taking their own life, will see that what they are con- templating is not dignified, but undignified. It is a rejection of the loving Creator from whom they draw their dignity. Contrary to the marketing by Compassion and Choices, assisted-suicide is far from compassionate. It robs people of the chance to be transformed by suffering, to offer their pain as an act of love for those in need of prayers. This is perfectly modeled for us by Jesus on the cross. In the bigger picture, legalizing euthanasia would have unintended consequences that its supporters do not talk about. St. John Paul II warned about how a society obsessed with efficiency easily justifies a "war of the powerful against the weak: a life which would require greater acceptance, love and care is considered useless, or held to be an intolerable Misplaced compassion and flawed choices DENVER CATHOLIC REGISTER CIRCULATION CUSTOMER SERVICE: 303-722-4687 OR CIRCULATION@ARCHDEN.ORG Published by the Archdiocese of Denver, 1300 S. Steele St., Denver, CO 80210 Denver Catholic Register (USPS 557-020) is published weekly except the last week of December and the first week of January, and in June, July and August when it goes bi-weekly. The Register is printed by Signature Offset in Denver. Periodical postage paid in Denver, CO. Subscriptions: $35 a year in Colorado; $42 per year out of state. Foreign countries: $42 surface, all countries, 6-8 weeks for delivery; $135 air, all other countries (average). Mexico, $48 air; Canada, $55 air. Postmaster: Send address changes to: Denver Catholic Register, Circulation Dept., 1300 S. Steele St., Denver, CO 80210 or e-mail circulation@archden.org. Editorial: 303-715-3215 or editor@archden.org Advertising: 303-715-3253 or dcrads@archden.org Circulation: 303-715-3211 or circulation@archden.org Online: www.DenverCatholicRegister.org General Manager Karna Swanson Interim Editor Julie Filby Business Manager Michael O'Neill Below is Part III of the Doctri- nal Note on the Participation of Catholics in Political Life issued by the Congregation for the Doc- trine of the Faith in 2002. Arch- bishop Samuel J. Aquila asked the Denver Catholic Register to publish the entire note over four installments as a reminder of the role of Catholics in the upcoming elections. III. Principles of Catho- lic doctrine on the autonomy of the temporal order and on pluralism 5. While a plurality of methodologies reflective of different sensibilities and cultures can be legitimate in approaching such questions, no Catholic can appeal to the principle of pluralism or to the autonomy of lay involvement in political life to support policies affecting the common good which compromise or undermine fundamental ethical requirements. This is not a question of confessional values per se, because such ethical precepts are rooted in human nature itself and belong to the natural moral law. They do not require from those who defend them the profession of the Chris- tian faith, although the Church's teaching confirms and defends them always and everywhere as part of her service to the truth about man and about the com- mon good of civil society. More- over, it cannot be denied that politics must refer to principles of absolute value precisely be- cause these are at the service of the dignity of the human person and of true human progress. 6. The appeal often made to "the rightful autonomy of the participation of lay Catholics" in politics needs to be clarified. Promoting the common good of society, according to one's conscience, has nothing to do with confessionalism or reli- gious intolerance. For Catholic moral doctrine, the rightful au- tonomy of the political or civil sphere from that of religion and the Church–but not from that of morality–is a value that has been attained and recognized by the Catholic Church and belongs to inheritance of contemporary civilization.[23] John Paul II has warned many times of the dan- gers which follow from confu- sion between the religious and political spheres. "Extremely sensitive situations arise when a specifically religious norm be- comes or tends to become the law of a state without due con- sideration for the distinction be- tween the domains proper to re- ligion and to political society. In practice, the identification of re- ligious law with civil law can sti- fle religious freedom, even going so far as to restrict or deny other inalienable human rights."[24] All the faithful are well aware that specifically religious activities (such as the profession of faith, worship, administration of sac- raments, theological doctrines, interchange between religious authorities and the members of religions) are outside the state's responsibility. The state must not interfere, nor in any way require or prohibit these activities, ex- cept when it is a question of pub- lic order. The recognition of civil and political rights, as well as the allocation of public services may not be made dependent upon citizens' religious convictions or activities. The right and duty of Catholics and all citizens to seek the truth with sincerity and to promote and defend, by legitimate means, moral truths concerning society, justice, freedom, respect for human life and the other rights of the person, is something quite different. The fact that some of these truths may also be taught by the Church does not lessen the political legitimacy or the rightful autonomy of the contribution of those citizens who are committed to them, irrespective of the role that reasoned inquiry or confirmation by the Christian faith may have played in recognizing such truths. Such autonomy refers first of all to the attitude of the person who respects the truths that derive from natural knowledge regard- ing man's life in society, even if such truths may also be taught by a specific religion, because truth is one. It would be a mis- take to confuse the proper au- tonomy exercised by Catholics in political life with the claim of a principle that prescinds from the moral and social teaching of the Church. By its interventions in this area, the Church's Magisterium does not wish to exercise political power or eliminate the freedom of opinion of Catholics regarding contingent questions. Instead, it intends–as is its proper function–to instruct and illuminate the consciences of the faithful, particularly those involved in political life, so that their actions may always serve the integral promotion of the human person and the common good. The social doctrine of the Church is not an intrusion into the government of individual countries. It is a question of the lay Catholic's duty to be morally coherent, found within one's conscience, which is one and indivisible. There cannot be two parallel lives in their existence: on the one hand, the so-called 'spiritual life,' with its values and demands; and on the other, the so-called 'secular' life, that is, life in a family, at work, in social responsibilities, in the responsibilities of public life and in culture. The branch, engrafted to the vine, which is Christ, bears its fruit in every sphere of existence and activity. In fact, every area of the lay faithful's lives, as different as they are, enters into the plan of God, who desires that these very areas be the 'places in time' where the love of Christ is revealed and realized for both the glory of the Father and service of others. Every activity, every situation, every precise responsibility–as, for example, skill and solidarity in work, love and dedication in the family and the education of children, service to society and public life and the promotion of truth in the area of culture–are the occasions ordained by providence for a 'continuous exercise of faith, hope and charity' (Apostolicam actuositatem, 4). [25] Living and acting in conformity with one's own conscience on questions of politics is not slavish acceptance of positions alien to politics or some kind of confessionalism, The right and duty of Catholics to vote for moral truths See Note, Page 4 DIVINE MERCY SUPPORTIVE CARE Offering compassionate care to those who face end-of-life illness while affirming the sanctity of human life Phone: 303-357-2540 Online: www.dmsci.org Email: info@dmsci.org See Aquila, Page 4

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