Many within the Ordinariate are familiar with me within my role as pastor of the Leicestershire

Ordinariate Mission at St Mary’s, Husbands Bosworth. Much less known is that since Ordination in 2011 I have also ministered as a hospital chaplain within a local general hospital. 

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For these last thirteen years of my life I have committed three days each week, plus twenty four hour on call cover, to serving in this way. The recent and much discussed Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults Bill will have a particular and significant impact on hospital chaplains. Many Catholics have been encouraged and informed by Bishop’s pastoral letters, articles within the press and various other reflections which have been greatly helpful in forming our understanding. However, the experiences of hospital chaplaincy and the effects it will face if this bill were to become law, offer a unique perspective.

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As a chaplain over the last thirteen years I have had the great privilege to have had the opportunity to come alongside those who are at the end of life and their families, which had formed my own faith and views about dying and euthanasia.

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What is chaplaincy?

As we think about this serious matter from the perspective of hospital chaplaincy it is first important to think about what hospital chaplaincy actually is.

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Even amongst Catholics there is sometimes confusion or a lack of understanding of the role of a chaplaincy within hospitals. Catholic chaplaincy celebrates and gives testimony to the gift of life and its sanctity. 

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This can be seen in our role in welcoming new life, through the blessing and baptism of newborn babies, right through to the care of patients at the very end of life. A chaplain upholds the dignity of each individual through pastoral care and the celebration of the sacraments of the Church. In this, a Chaplain can be seen as offering a prophetic witness to the value and

dignity of human life in a secular organisation. A a chaplain my role is for the wellbeing of patients, relatives, staff and anyone who has contact with the hospital.

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Good Palliative Care

I am very fortunate to work closely with the Palliative Care Team within the hospital. This is a team of doctors, nurses, psychologists and other professionals who work across all hospital wards supporting those with life limiting medical conditions. Over the years I have witnessed the great care, compassion and expertise that palliative care professionals bring to patients and

families. I feel so fortunate that our palliative care team perceive the great need for the spiritual care of their patients and readily involve the chaplaincy in their meetings and we are able to work closely with them in the care of the dying. The Catechism of the Catholic Church speaks of the great value of palliative care, regarding it as a special form of disinterested charity (CC 2279) and so it is wholly appropriate that Catholic chaplaincy takes it place within palliative care services. 

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Over the last thirteen years I have experienced very moving forms of end of life care where patients have been supported in their last weeks and hours to have dignity and peace. For Catholics those whose lives are diminished or weakened deserve special respect (CCC2276) and this has largely been my experience as I have worked within a palliative setting. I am frequently moved when staff go that extra mile to provide comfort and quality of life and in this chaplains and medical staff can find unity in a sense of vocation which goes beyond the worldly understanding of career and ambition.

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As a chaplain, I have also come to realise that the length of someone’s life can never be predicted. I have often been called out urgently in the middle of the night to anoint a patient only to find that I am still visiting them one month later. It is often during these last few days and weeks of a person’s life that I have been most moved in the care of people. I have seen family divisions healed, lifelong regrets addressed and people reconciled with Christ and His Church.

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Chaplaincy provides the beautiful opportunity to get to know the dying person and listen to their deepest concerns, fears and joys.

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A chaplain is often the only person a patient can hare intimately with because of the worry they have of burdening already grieving and stressed family members and friends. In all this the process of dying, whilst terrible, can still be a time of quality of life. The bedside of the dying person can really become a sacred space where God works. Euthanasia destroys this and the unique opportunities for light which can come through encounter with the darkness of death.

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At the time a person is dying they still have much to offer, even if in only seemingly small ways. Love can be shared with family members, and I have experienced countless times where the dying person has witnessed to their faith through their courage and love shown to those who watch at their bedside. Our faith reminds us that death can provide the gift of being more closely united to Christ’s Passion, ‘In a certain way he is consecrated to bear fruit by configuration to the Saviour’s redemptive Passion. Suffering, a consequence of original sin, acquires a new meaning; it becomes a participation in the saving work of Jesus’ (CCC1521).

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The Catechism goes further, The sick who receive the Sacrament of Unction, “by freely uniting themselves to the passion and death of Christ,… contribute to the good of the People of God.” By celebrating this sacrament, the Church, in the communion of saints, intercedes for the benefit of the sick person, and he, for his part, through the grace of this sacrament, contributes to the sanctification of the Church and to the good of all men for whom the Church suffers and offers herself through Christ to God the Father. (CCC 1522).

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Consequences for Chaplaincy

Chaplaincy can be seen to provide unique insights into the discussion surrounding assisted dying, but it will also face great challenges if this Bill were to become law. It could even challenge the presence of Catholic chaplains within the NHS, in the longer term. Most chaplains have a dual existence. We are appointed by the local bishop to serve the Catholic community, but many like me are also NHS employees. 

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Being an employee and part of the structure gives opportunities but also comes with obligations, duties and responsibilities to the employer. This can create tension. For example, a chaplain may be asked to bless a same sex couple, where one of the couple is a patient. For the NHS this would be seen as good pastoral care but for a Catholic priest, upholding the teaching of Christ, this would not be possible. Such situations put chaplains in a very difficult position. Assisted dying brings a whole new range of difficulties for Catholic chaplains. There are also ecumenical and interfaith concerns. For example, the British Islamic Medical Association has issued a statement to all its members opposing the introduction of the Bill. This could be hugely significant, especially considering the number of Muslim physicians currently working within the NHS.

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As part of the Sacrament of the Sick and Unction the priest will read the following passage of scripture, Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord and the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. (James 5:14-15)

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Unction, in addition to what St James instructs includes, when possible, the reception of Holy Communion and Confession. I have lost count of the number of times I have been called to the Hospital to offer this sacrament to people. This would also be the case for all priests who visit people at home, local care homes and in hospitals within their parishes. It is a regular part of the life and ministry of a priest. If the Assisted Dying Bill were to pass, a great dilemma is

created. What are the expectations from the NHS to offer pastoral care to those who have decided to end their own lives? If a Catholic priest is asked to anoint or bless a person who has made this decision, what is he to do? As a family member, what do we do when a relative takes this step and asks for our prayers or advice?

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The Church teaches that, ‘No one can make an attempt on the life of an innocent person without opposing God’s love for that person, without violating a fundamental right, and therefore without committing a crime of the utmost gravity’… Intentionally causing one’s own death, or suicide, is therefore equally as wrong as murder; such an action on the part of a person is to be considered as a rejection of God’s sovereignty and loving plan. (Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Declaration on Euthanasia, May 5, 1980)

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At the heart of Catholic pastoral and sacramental care for the dying is reconciliation. Putting things right with God through the ministry of his Church is part of the healing process and expression of human dignity in Christ. How can this forgiveness be offered to someone who has made the decision to end their life, which the Church teaches is such a violation and

rejection of God? 

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As a priest, I would be misleading a person if I were to offer the sacrament in this situation, and I would also be committing an act of sacrilege. It surely isn’t possible for a person to be reconciled through the sacraments at the very same time that they are undergoing a process of assisted dying which rejects God and his love. A sin cannot be forgiven before or

during its occurrence. Could such a necessary stance put Catholic chaplaincy at odds with the NHS and open them up to disciplinary action and dismissal?

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Assisted dying affects us all. It will have huge implications upon chaplains and pastoral care and as a consequence the place of Catholic chaplains within the NHS will become much more difficult and possibly untenable. The good relationship that exists between chaplaincy and healthcare professionals will be strained but most importantly we would be denying the possibility of people having a good death and the graces and blessings that this can bring.

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