The leader of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales used a special service for the sick to speak out against assisted suicide.
At an annual mass on Saturday in which the ill are prayed for and anointed with oil, Archbishop Vincent Nichols quoted a recent document by the Bishops of England and Wales: “If we reduce death to a clinical event and manage it through a series of standard procedures, then we do not deal with death well, either clinically or humanly.”
Last week, the head of the Church of England, Dr. Rowan Williams, said a relaxation of the law on euthanasia would cross a moral boundary.
Their words are meant to be heard by Kier Starmer, director of Public Prosecutions, whose clarification of the principles concerning charges against people helping others to die will be published shortly. It is expected to advise against prosecution where the victim was terminally ill or if relatives do not profit from the death.
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