What happened?
Pope Francis and Donald Trump drew the attention of the world’s media to 11-month-old Charlie Gard by offering their support for his parents.
Charlie’s parents, Connie Yates and Chris Gard, had challenged a decision by Great Ormond Street Hospital to withdraw his life support, instead wanting him to be sent for experimental treatment in the US, for which they had raised £1.3 million.
But British and European courts sided with the hospital.
What Catholics are saying
Charles Camosy, writing for Crux, argued that the decision amounted to euthanasia of a disabled baby. (Charlie has a rare genetic disease called mitochondrial depletion syndrome which means he cannot move, see or hear.) “His vulnerable life had been determined by powerful others to be unworthy to be lived,” Camosy wrote.
He noted that Charlie was unlikely to benefit from the experimental US treatment. If paid for by the state, he said, this would be a good reason to forgo it. But Charlie’s parents had raised the money themselves. Withdrawing life support is euthanasia in the form of “an omission which by intention causes death”, he wrote.
But Michael Redinger, writing for America magazine, said pro-lifers had “fallen into the trap of vitalism: the prioritisation of the prolongation of human life at all costs, regardless of pain or suffering”. He said there was a consensus that “life in this state is painful for Charlie and that he is unable to comprehend or meaningfully respond to this pain”. (Although others have said it is impossible to know if Charlie is in pain.) If the harm of a treatment exceeds its potential for benefit, then it is “inhumane” to provide it, he said.
The Anscombe Bioethics Centre, an Oxford-based Catholic institute, said the court judgments were flawed. They expressed opinions that could be seen as suggesting “the life of a disabled person [is] not worth living” and did not “adequately recognise” the role of the parents, the institute said. The High Court acted on the parents’ behalf “without first attempting to show that they were acting very unreasonably”.
✣Letter reveals impasse between SSPX and Rome
What happened?
Days before he was dismissed as Vatican doctrinal chief, Cardinal Gerhard Müller wrote a letter to Bishop Bernard Fellay, head of the Society of St Pius X, outlining the conditions the SSPX had to accept to return to full communion with Rome. The conditions, which he said had the approval of Francis, included accepting the Second Vatican Council.
Why was it under-reported?
The conditions, which the SSPX relayed to its members, seem identical to the “doctrinal preamble” offered under Benedict XVI. This preamble was rejected by the SSPX in 2012. Thus it seems that reconciliation talks have reached an impasse. While this might not interest the secular media, informed Vatican watchers are taking note. Several Vaticanisti had speculated that Pope Francis, sympathetic to “outsiders”, would create a personal prelature for the SSPX without requiring any agreement about Vatican II. This now seems less likely.
What will happen next?
Hopes of a Vatican-SSPX deal in the era of Francis are not entirely dashed. Archbishop Guido Pozzo, head of Ecclesia Dei, the body responsible for the dialogue, suggested in February that there may be grounds for compromise on Vatican II. He suggested that its texts, compared with the Magisterium, had a “different degree of authority, which corresponds to a different degree of adherence”. Bishop Fellay said the archbishop had clarified that the Council’s documents “did not constitute criteria for Catholicity”.
✣The week ahead
July is, by tradition, the month that popes take a holiday at the Castel Gandolfo villa outside Rome. Pope Francis, from the start of his papacy, has chosen to stay at the Vatican instead. Last year the private rooms were opened to the public for tours. Guided tours also go to the gardens, built on the ruins of 1st-century Emperor Domitian’s country residence.
The Irish chaplaincy, set up by bishops to deal with mass migration to Britain in the 1950s and 60s, is marking its 60th anniversary. An evening of music and theatre will be held this evening at Our Lady Help of Christians, Kentish Town.
Britain’s largest prison is opening in Wrexham. HMP Berwyn, which has capacity for more than 2,000 inmates, is a significant addition to the diocese. Just under one in five prisoners in England and Wales is Catholic, according to a 2011 survey. Bishop Peter Brignall of Wrexham will be celebrating Mass at the prison tomorrow.
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