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| From: The Death of the Woman of Darius, 1785, by Louis Jean Francois Lagrenee |
Palliative care of the dying as opposed to the hard-headed "planning" of a person's death are issues taken up below.
Along with the view of death as arriving at the end of a journey, there has to be an attitude of death as a natural event, so that it is not feared but awaited with the calmness of arriving at a welcome destination.
This calmness was clear in the letter made public this week that retired Pope Benedict XVI had submitted concerning his conduct when leader of the church in Munich. He reflected on his own mortality, writing that "quite soon, I shall find myself before the final judge of my life". He continued:
Even though, as I look back on my long life, I can have great reason for fear and trembling, I am nonetheless of good cheer, for I trust firmly that the Lord is not only the just judge, but also the friend and brother who himself has already suffered for my shortcomings.
In light of the hour of judgment, the grace of being a Christian becomes all the more clear to me. It grants me knowledge, and indeed friendship, with the judge of my life, and thus allows me to pass confidently through the dark door of death.
The understanding of death as a "dark door" was picked up by Pope Francis in a message later in the week on what a "good death", a "happy death", might mean.
Dear brothers and sisters, perhaps some people think that this language and this theme are only a legacy of the past, but in reality, our relationship with death is never about the past — it is always present. Speaking about himself a few days ago, Pope Benedict said that he “is before the dark door of death”. It is good to thank Pope Benedict, who at 95, has the clarity [of mind] to tell us this. “I am before the obscurity of death, at the dark door of death”.
It is good advice that he has given us. The so-called “wellness” culture tries to remove the reality of death, but the coronavirus pandemic has brought it back into focus in a dramatic way. It was terrible: death was everywhere, and many brothers and sisters lost loved ones without being able to be near them, and this made death even harder to accept and process.
[W]e try in every way to banish the thought of our finite existence, thus deluding ourselves that we can remove its power and dispel fear. But Christian faith is not a way of exorcising the fear of death; rather, it helps us to face it. Sooner or later, we will all pass through that door.
Christians are guided on their way to death by the light of the crucified Christ who rose from the dead and who awaits us "behind that dark door of death", welcoming us into our true home after this time of exile in our present lives, during which we are "aliens in a foreign land" (Acts 7:6).
Francis goes on to highlight the solitude that surrounds the personal moment of death; also, the emptiness of our hands as we pass to the next life - with a humorous comment about the absence of a removals van following the hearse:
It is only through faith in resurrection that we can face the abyss of death without being overwhelmed by fear. Not only that: we can restore a positive role to death. Indeed, thinking about death, enlightened by the mystery of Christ, helps us to look at all of life through fresh eyes. I have never seen a removals van behind a hearse! ... We will go alone, with nothing in the pockets of our shroud: nothing. ... This solitude of death: it is true. It makes no sense to accumulate.
[...] What we must accumulate is charity and the ability to share, the ability not to remain indifferent when faced with the needs of others. [W]hat is the point of arguing with a brother or with a sister, with a friend, with a relative, or with a brother or sister in faith, if one day we will die? What is the point in being angry, in getting angry with others? Before death, many issues are put into perspective. It is good to die reconciled, without grudges and without regrets! I would like to say one truth: we are all on our way towards that door, all of us.
The care of those approaching death is taken up in the next part of Francis's message to the weekly audience of visitors:
Two considerations stand out for us Christians. The first: we cannot avoid death, and precisely for this reason, after having done everything that is humanly possible to cure the sick, it is immoral to engage in overzealous treatment (cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 2278). That phrase of the faithful people of God, of the simple people: “Let him die in peace”, “help him to die in peace”: such wisdom! The second consideration concerns the quality of death itself, the quality of pain, of suffering. Indeed, we must be grateful for all the help that medicine is striving to give, so that through so-called “palliative care”, every person who is preparing to live the last stretch of their life can do so in the most humane way possible.
However, we must be careful not to confuse this help with unacceptable drifts towards killing. We must accompany people towards death, but not provoke death or facilitate any form of suicide. Remember that the right to care and treatment for all must always be prioritised, so that the weakest, particularly the elderly and the sick, are never rejected. Life is a right, not death, which must be welcomed, not administered. And this ethical principle concerns everyone, not just Christians or believers.
I would like to underline a real social problem. That “planning” — I don’t know if it is the right word — but accelerating the death of the elderly. Very often we see in a certain social class that the elderly, since they do not have means, are given fewer medicines than they need, and this is inhuman; this is not helping them, it is driving them towards death earlier. This is neither human nor Christian.
The elderly should be cared for as a treasure of humanity: they are our wisdom. Even if they do not speak, or if they do not make sense, they are still the symbol of human wisdom. They are those who went before us and have left us many beautiful things, many memories, much wisdom. Please, do not isolate the elderly, do not accelerate the death of the elderly. To caress an elderly person has the same hope as caressing a child, because the beginning of life and the end are always a mystery, a mystery that should be respected, accompanied, cared for, loved.
In our own life, and in caring for another, we should try to reduce pain and suffering, but to set out, by suicide or assisted suicide or euthanasia, to avoid everything in the way of suffering is to offend against the person by preventing growth through the challenge offered by suffering, even confusion, as alluded to at the start of this post. The main principle is of letting God's plan for the person play out without interference. The Catechism's paragraph 2278 that Francis cites states:
Discontinuing medical procedures that are burdensome, dangerous, extraordinary, or disproportionate to the expected outcome can be legitimate; it is the refusal of "over-zealous" treatment. Here one does not will to cause death; one's inability to impede it is merely accepted. The decisions should be made by the patient if he/she is competent and able or, if not, by those legally entitled to act for the patient, whose reasonable will and legitimate interests must always be respected.
Even if death is thought imminent, the ordinary care owed to a sick person cannot be legitimately interrupted. The use of painkillers to alleviate the sufferings of the dying, even at the risk of shortening their days, can be morally in conformity with human dignity if death is not willed as either an end or a means, but only foreseen and tolerated as inevitable Palliative care is a special form of disinterested charity. As such it should be encouraged. [par 2279]This element of proportionate care or treatment is to be distinguished from the steps taken in what is known as euthanasia (Catechism par 2277):
Whatever its motives and means, direct euthanasia consists in putting an end to the lives of handicapped, sick, or dying persons. It is morally unacceptable.
Thus an act or omission which, of itself or by intention, causes death in order to eliminate suffering constitutes a murder gravely contrary to the dignity of the human person and to the respect due to the living God, his/her Creator. The error of judgment into which one can fall in good faith does not change the nature of this murderous act, which must always be forbidden and excluded.
What we have seen in recent years among the general public of Western nations is the diminishing of moral sensitivity, meaning the gradual loss of insight into the way personal predicaments can be part of God's plan for the ultimate benefit of the person and society. As a result we hear the slogan, "the right to die", which is used to cover all cases of personal difficulty, often pressed into use in calling for legislation that enables family or society to slough off responsibility for ongoing care.
Meanwhile, the Church continues to care for the sick and downtrodden, safeguarding the dignity of the individual and protecting the principles that defend the welfare of all in society. This is how this section of the Catechism is introduced:
Those whose lives are diminished or weakened deserve special respect. Sick or handicapped persons should be helped to lead lives as normal as possible.[par 2276]
Fortunately, some in society are realising that what Francis describes as "unacceptable drifts towards killing" are extreme and hurt us all. They acknowledge that when a person is disabled, old and weak, handicapped with Down Syndrome, or burdened with a psychological illness, those close to them can share in the conditions promoting growth. We also grow through providing support as a community.
The usual calls for assisted suicide/euthanasia highlight where so much current moral thinking leads: to what is easy, to avoiding inconvenience, to what, in fact, removes the challenge – even adventure – of embarking on a journey that may be difficult. The journey at is final stages may need to employ palliative care but the likelihood is that it will allow magnificent outcomes: for the patient, the personal achievement of calm acceptance, and, for those accompanying the patient, a heightened regard for the welfare of others, through the practice of devotion at the highest level possible for a human, which is the laying down of one's life for the welfare of a friend or family member. Both outcomes are a boon for the whole of society.
Please read the following posts on this topic:
💢 'Sacredness of ALL life' versus the world - go here
💢 Stories from the grateful and living dead - go here
💢 Mother says Down Syndrome all about love - go here
💢 When "right to die" becomes "duty to die" - go here
💢 How to change our attitude to suffering - go here
💢 Suffering and other acts of growth - go here
💢 Suicide makes losers of us all - go here
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