Monthly Archives: May 2017

Brussels, Belgium, May 2, 2017 / 02:59 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Following a decision by the board of several Belgian Catholic psychiatric hospitals to start performing euthanasia, the religious brothers who operate the hospitals said the policy change is unacceptable and cannot be implemented.

We deplore this new vision, said Brother Ren Stockman, the superior general of the Brothers of Charity. Brother Stockman is himself a Belgian and a leading opponent of euthanasia. The Brothers of Charity in Belgium run 15 psychiatric hospitals with 5,000 patients. The board controlling their institutions has said it will now allow euthanasia in these hospitals.

Brother Stockman said he has informed the Belgian congregation that as general superior we cannot accept this decision, because it is going totally against our charism of the charity. He said the decision can not at all be justified in a Christian framework. It is a real tragedy, he told the Australian-based website MercatorNet in an interview published April 28.

The Belgian Brothers of Charity board announced the decision on its website. We take seriously unbearable and hopeless suffering and patients request for euthanasia, the board said. On the other hand, we do want to protect lives and ensure that euthanasia is performed only if there is no more possibility to provide a reasonable perspective to treat the patient.

Brother Stockman said only a few brothers are still involved on the board governing the Belgian facilities. The majority of the members are lay people. Yes, there was a lot of pressure, but pressure doesnt mean that we have to capitulate, he said, charging that secularization is poisoning the congregation in Belgium.

Raf De Ryce, chairman of the board overseeing the institutions, contended that the new policy was not a major change, the bioethics site BioEdge reports, citing Belgian newspapers. It is not that we used to be against euthanasia and now suddenly are for it. This is consistent with our existing criteria, he said. We are making both possible routes for our patients: both a pro-life perspective and euthanasia.

De Ryce said the inviolability of life is an important foundation but for the board it is not an absolute. This is where we are on a different wavelength from Rome, he said. Brother Stockman, however, said the decision of the Belgian organization has had a big impact. It has drawn praise from backers of legal euthanasia. All those who were against us are now singing that finally the group of the Brothers of Charity capitulated and came into their camp, he said.

The Catholic hospitals previous policy was clear about opposition to euthanasia.

When someone asked for euthanasia, the question was taken seriously; everything was done to help the patient to change his vision of things, Brother Stockman said. If the situation remained unchanged, the patient was transferred. This transfer was done with respect, but always convinced that a signal was given to society that inside our institutes no euthanasia was possible, he said. This was very important.

The Brothers of Charitys general congregation has informed the Belgian bishops conference and the apostolic nuncio to Belgium about the matter. Brother Stockman said he is in contact with the bishops conference president Cardinal Jozef De Kesel.

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Religious brothers push back on euthanasia directive for Catholic hospitals - The Tidings

Catholic World News

May 01, 2017

Belgian psychiatric hospitals run by the Brothers of Charity will now allow doctors to euthanasize patients.

The Brothers of Charity, whose hospitals care for about 5,000 patients in Belgium, announced that we respect the freedom of doctors to decide whether or not to perform euthanasia and freedom of other caregivers to choose whether or not to participate. The board of the hospitals issued a statement saying that we take extreme caution on requests of patients for euthanasia, but also take the unbearable and hopeless suffering seriously as well.

Brother Ren Stockman, the international leader of the Brothers of Charity (and, ironically, a Belgian), said from Rome that the decision of the Belgian institutions was at odds with the policy of the order. We deplore this new vision, he said.

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Belgian Catholic hospitals to offer euthanasia : News Headlines ... - Catholic Culture

A Belgian Paralympic champion wheelchair racer and sometimes euthanasia campaigner expressed her delight at making her dream Japan visit a reality.

Marieke Vervoort said in a recent interview in Tokyo she wanted to come to Japan ever since she started learning jujitsu when she was in her teens.

Despite suffering from a degenerative spinal disease that makes travel difficult, the 37-year-old Vervoort said she is currently in good health. However, with her future uncertain she wants to experience as much as she can, while she still can.

Vervoort has penned an autobiography and she is also planning to open a museum where she will display her race wheelchairs, race records and other paraphernalia, she said.

She has won four Olympic medals, including gold in the London 2012 T52 wheelchair category 100 meters and silver in the 200 meters.

Using a profile built through her exploits in Paralympic sports, Vervoort began a serious conversation on the topic of euthanasia at the Rio Paralympics when she revealed she had signed paperwork to allow a doctor to end her life.

After winning silver and bronze medals in Rio and then announcing her retirement, she made worldwide headlines when reports emerged that she would begin proceedings to end her life soon after, something she immediately quashed.

But she did not shy away from the topic, using the platform to provide perspective.

Speaking in Tokyo, she said she signed the euthanasia papers to give herself the option to end her own life, something that has provided her with peace of mind.

Without those papers, I think I would be depressed because you live in that (limbo), unsure about whats going to happen next, she said. I dont want to quit (life) now, but with (euthanasia) papers I have it in my own hands. Its enough, I can say now is the moment, thats truly important.

Diagnosed as a teenager with a progressive spinal condition that resulted in paraplegia, she signed euthanasia documents in 2008 in Belgium the second country in the world to permit euthanasia by law.

The message I want to give to every country is that euthanasia is not murder it gives people a kind of a feeling of (peace) in mind because they know when its too hard, they have a way out and its going to be very softly. You choose your people to be with and its going very softly, you can say goodbye.

Although she will not compete in the Tokyo Paralympics, her experience gives her a unique perspective on the citys level of preparedness for the games, and it is not a five-star review for the 2020 host.

I think everywhere is the same, the same problem, said Vervoort about the challenge stairs provide to wheelchair access. Here its really extreme. I couldnt even go (into) one shop because it was made with two steps (up). When you are just alone standing over there, you cant get in.

Despite the challenges of travel around Japan, Vervoort is not going to let it slow her down. Her two-week trip was scheduled to include a meeting with fellow Rio Paralympian Yuka Kiyama in Hiroshima and visits to tourist spots in Kyoto, Osaka and the hot springs resort of Hakone, Kanagawa Prefecture.

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Getting the most out of life, Paralympian and euthanasia advocate fulfills Japan travel dream - The Japan Times