The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops have launched a national campaign against euthanasia and doctor-assisted suicide as the country’s Supreme Court is expected to reconsider the issue in the near future.
At the bishops’ plenary assembly in Beaupré, Quebec, this week, Bishop Noël Simard, chairman of the Catholic Organization for Life and Family, announced the initiative, titled “National Campaign for Palliative Care and Home Care, and Against Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide.”
On September 28, the bishops will launch a new website for the campaign with resources on the issue. The resources will include information about the push for euthanasia and assisted suicide, strategies for better palliative care, as well as a video, a prayer card for life, and suggested prayers of the faithful.
The CCCB's support of the campaign, Bishop Simard said, is related to its National Pastoral Initiative for Life and Family, launched by the Canadian bishops in 2011.
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The CCCB webpage for the Pastoral Initiative already includes a special section with resources and links to other organizations fighting against euthanasia and assisted suicide, such as the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition and Vivre dans la Dignité (Living with Dignity).
“We are promoting a vision of life, a vision of care of the dying. And that vision is best embodied in good palliative care,” CCCB president Archbishop Paul-André Durocher told the Catholic Register.
“It’s a campaign for palliative care and against euthanasia,” Durocher said, “an educational campaign to get people to be aware of the difference between the two.”
COLF executive director Michele Boulva said the goals of the campaign are to raise awareness and to initiate involvement and action.
“The idea is to make the faithful conscious of what’s happening,” she said. “It’s designed to educate people and promote their responsibility as citizens to get involved in the public debate and to defend life.”