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From the editor’s desk
Tragedy not a basis for reform Free A rugby scrum gone wrong put paid to the life that Daniel James once led. The vigorous young man was left paralysed from the chest down, in constant pain and suffering from continual spasms. At 23, he persuaded his parents to help him travel to the Dignitas clinic in Switzerland where a lethal dose of barbiturates was used to kill him. Nobody reading of his suffering or of his parents' plight would feel anything but sympathy for their situation. But given that the 1961 Suicide Act decriminalised suicide in Britain while criminalising the assisting of it, the Crown Prosecution Service is investigating the case. Inevitably, some commentators have suggested that the story of Daniel James shows that the law needs to change. The reform proposed is not only to make it legal for people to assist others to go to another country to take their lives but to ensure that such deaths are carried out freely and legally in this country. Until now, the advocates of assisted suicide have called for its use in cases of terminal illness. Their claims about Daniel James break new ground: the young man's condition was not terminal. One of the most outspoken supporters of assisted suicide who has used the James case to press her argument, Baroness Warnock, has also recently argued that those suffering from dementia should be allowed to die if they are a burden on their family. In an article called "Duty to die?" she suggested that there was nothing wrong in a person feeling that they ought to die for the sake of others. While Lady Warnock's utilitarian approach has shocked many, she has also done society a service in showing how efforts ...  Previous weeks
Our words, God's word Free One of the great unfulfilled promises of the Second Vatican Council was that a new encounter with Scripture would greatly enrich the life of the Church. That was what the bishops clearly hoped for, and what their decree Dei Verbum actually said. Scripture was to return to its role at the very heart of the Catholic faith. As the Catholic Church's neglect of Scripture was one of the complaints made by the leaders ...
Brown’s biggest gamble Free What had seemed like a mere crisis in the banking system turned this week into something close to a calamity. The emergency rescue plan announced by Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling would have been close to unimaginable a matter of weeks ago. While it has long been the ambition of the Left in the Labour Party to nationalise the banks, not even Tony Benn could have imagined that it might be partly achieved by these ...
Rule for an age of misrule Free When the Cistercian monk and author Thomas Merton first visited the monastery that was to become his home, the Abbey of Gethsemani, he is said to have exclaimed that he had discovered the only real city in America. It was a comment that conveyed how well a place functions under the rule of St Benedict, with its emphasis on service, order, hospitality and communal life. It has become a commonplace among some ...
The financiers we need Free The Churches in Britain have a long and distinguished record of commenting authoritatively on issues of economics and social justice, a tradition embracing the Anglican "Faith in the City" report in 1985, the Catholic statement "The Common Good" a decade later, and the more recent ecumenical document of 2005, "Prosperity with a Purpose". It is far too soon to expect similarly weighty ... |
 In this week’s issueOf popes and patriarchs Caring by the Rule Unrest within the bosom of Abraham A tax to save the world Worship and service Tablet Education Experts highly exposed Latest NewsSurprise at delay over Becker's appointment as cardinal Longley sees value of secularism SSPX plays for time Australian ordinariate named Can the Church support abuse victims on its own terms? Elena Curti Is the Church too slow in recognising that academies are the future for Catholic schools? Christopher Lamb Goodwin the scapegoat Elena Curti The pain of being a coeliac Catholic Sr M, guest contributor
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