The church believes that Euthanasia is morally wrong, and that only God can end somebody’s life. The Catholic Church claims that life is the most basic gift from a loving God – a gift over which we have stewardship, but not total control. The Second Vatican Council declared ‘Euthanasia (is an) offence against life itself’. It ‘poisons civilisation’ and that it ‘debases the perpetrators more than the victims and militate against the honour of the creator’. The church teaches that ‘Those whose lives are diminished or weakened deserve special respect’. Also ‘Sick or handicapped persons should be helped to lead lives as normal as possible’. Euthanasia is said to be morally unacceptable and that the person who ends a suffering person’s life becomes a murderer; breaking the commandment ‘Thou shalt not kill’. The church states that ‘You shall not kill: and whoever kills shall be liable to judgement’. Even if death is thought imminent, the ordinary care owed to a sick person can not be legitimately interrupted. Palliative care is a special form of disinterested charity.
The teachings of the Catholic Church are clear, however many Catholics will disagree with the church’s teachings, or say that abortion and euthanasia are acceptable in certain situations; for example if someone was dying of cancer, some people believe that it would be more humane to allow them to die quickly and less painfully, rather than let them suffer a slow painful death.
The majority of Catholics follow the church’s teaching on abortion, and say it is morally wrong. However, opinions do differ within the church. Some Catholics say that abortion is acceptable if the pregnancy is due to rape of incest, or if the woman is unable to bring up the child, or if the child will suffer from a disability, and that it would be fairer on both the woman and the child, if she were to have an abortion.
Though it is uncommon, there are Catholics who believe that abortion is always right. They say that God gave humans free will, and that they should have the choice to have an abortion, without the church interfering.
However, when faced with the issues regarding euthanasia, there are more Catholics who disagree with the church over euthanasia.
Most Catholics oppose euthanasia. They say that euthanasia is murder and contrary to the dignity of human beings. These Catholics also believe that euthanasia destroys the respect that is due to God – the beginning and end of all life. These views are also the same as those of the Catholic Church.
However, a growing number of Catholics are in favour of euthanasia and believe that euthanasia should be granted to those who want it. These Catholics say that euthanasia should be allowed, as it is kinder in some circumstances, to let people die than force them to carry on living. They believe that if the person is capable of making the decision for him or herself and that they feel strongly about it, then they should be granted the right to euthanasia.
The opinion on whether Catholics should make others accept their beliefs is very divided. Some people use the gospel for evidence that Catholics should make other people accept Catholic beliefs. They use the example of the Commission, when Jesus instructed his disciples to go out and make disciples of others, and spread his teachings around the world. These people would also say that if Catholics preach Catholicism to non-Catholics, then these people can make their own decision about whether they wish to accept Catholic beliefs. They agree that if Catholics believe that their faith is the right faith, then they must have more than enough belief in their religion to teach others about Catholicism. Another point for their argument is; if everybody followed the same religion, then people would not clash over religious ideas and that there would be more peace in the world. This stems down to Catholics making people accept their beliefs. If missionaries had not converted people to Catholicism, then the Catholic faith would not have such a large following, or perhaps not exist at all. Their final argument could be that many Catholics around the world are oppressed because of their religion. If they have enough faith in their religion to potentially risk their lives to practice Catholicism, surely this proves that the Catholic faith is a good idea.
However, there are many people who disagree with this point of view. They say that Catholicism is based on ideas that are around 2,000 years old. Attitudes and society have changed greatly between then and now, and many Catholic ideas from that time do not correspond with the way of life in the 21st century. They also state that if God gave humans free will, then Catholics should not force their ideas on other people, but allow then to use their free will in order to decide whether to accept Catholic ideas or not. Forcing ideas on other people is fascism, and probably not what God intended. He probably wants more of a democracy. These people also say that if Catholics have faith in their religion, then non-Catholics should see how strong their faith is, and take example from these people, without the idea being forced on them. A further argument is that if Catholics show a good example of being Catholic, then non-Catholics may be inspired to convert to Catholicism by their example, without them being forced to accept the Catholic position. Whilst some opinions vary, Jews, Christians and Muslims all worship the same God (and that Christianity (and Catholicism) and Islam are both derived from the Jewish faith). Therefore opinions between the faiths must be roughly similar. Whilst there are extremeists in all of the religions, the majority of Jews, Christians and Muslims do not use religions an excuse for violence.
I believe that Catholics should spread their beliefs to others, but not force them on other people. They should preach Jesus’ teachings as he instructed, but not allow themselves whether to accept Catholic beliefs.
Bibliography –
Dimensions of Christianity – Sister Anne Burke
www.catholicencyclopaedia.com
The Bible
Today’s Issues and Christian Beliefs – Simon and Christopher Danes
Living Faith – The Catholic Experience – Michael Keene