“For very many people, the End of Life Choice Act will bring a new and unwelcome dynamic into their lives. The very presence of the option of euthanasia will present as a burden and a pressure for many people and families,” says Dr Kleinsman, who is director of the bishops’ Nathaniel Centre for Bioethics.

“The introduction of assisted death will have a huge impact on all those who work with the dying – doctors, nurses and other health carers, as well as chaplains, priests and lay ministers. We will be reflecting in the coming months with these groups as to how the law will impact the people they care for, as well as the carers themselves. Among the questions raised will be ones about the provision of the sacraments at the end of life, and the impact on funeral celebrations.”

The End of Life Choice Act Referendum was held alongside the 2020 general election. Provisional results released today indicate 65.2 per cent of voters supported the referendum and 33.8 per cent opposed it. The act – which legalises euthanasia in New Zealand – will take effect in 12 months if the final count confirms the result.

Dr Kleinsman said approval for the referendum meant the country had crossed a line with no return.

The law – which was opposed by most major healthcare groups — is broader in scope than other laws overseas and, relative to places such as Victoria, Australia, much weaker in terms of its safeguards, said Dr Kleinsman.

“This is not a law for the few hard cases,” he said. “This law makes it easy for anyone diagnosed with a terminal illness to choose an assisted death – anywhere between 20,000 to 25,000 people will be eligible in any one year. It has no requirement for palliative care, no mandatory cooling off period, no requirement for independent witnesses, and lacks effective processes for detecting whether people might be opting for a premature death because of pressure, whether as a result of their own internal feelings of being a burden, or because of external pressures.

“This result goes against the tide of opinion worldwide with 33 jurisdictions around the world having rejected similar laws in the last five years, including the UK and Scotland, because of the risks posed for vulnerable people. It will only be a matter of time before our MPs come under pressure to broaden the law even more – that is what has happened with these laws overseas, and why would it be any different here? This law puts us on a very dangerous path, and today is just the start.”

(CNS image)

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“What to Say and How to Say It: Discuss Your Catholic Faith With Clarity and Confidence” by Brandon Vogt. Ave Maria Press (Notre Dame, Indiana, 2020). 235 pp., US$16.95. Reviewed by MITCH FINLEY (CNS)

These two books give readers an overview of what it means to be Catholic. They share the strengths and weaknesses that any such book is bound to have.

On the positive side, each gives clear explanations for topics related to being Catholic in today’s world. On the negative side, each encourages the reader to believe that there is only one acceptable Catholic point of view, one acceptable Catholic answer to ethical and moral conundrums – indeed, one acceptable way to be a good Catholic.

In other words, these books present a black-and-white view of Catholicism, as if no grey areas exist. They tend to overlook G.K. Chesterton’s observation that Catholics know the relatively few “transcendental truths on which they do agree, and take rather a pleasure in disagreeing on all the rest”.

That said, such books have their place and can be helpful.

This is the book cover of “I’m Catholic. Now What?” by Shaun McAfee. The book is reviewed by Mitch Finley. (CNS) See BOOKS-FAITH June 12, 2020.

Shaun McAfee, author of “I’m Catholic. Now What?” is a former evangelical Christian who joined the Catholic Church. This gives him the ability to speak to those with a non-Catholic background about Catholicism, knowing what their perspectives and questions are likely to be.

At the same time, former evangelical Christians tend to shift their former inclination to find all the answers in a kind of biblical literalism, to an inclination to find all the answers in a kind of Catholic doctrinal literalism, and this seems true of these books. Both McAfee and Vogt seem to assume that all official Catholic documents and teachings are at least virtually infallible.

While Vogt’s book limits itself to certain more-or-less controversial topics, McAfee’s book addresses Catholic topics of many kinds, including the Bible and the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the sacraments, Mary and the saints, prayer, drinking beer, kissing a bishop’s ring, opposing relativism, euthanasia, evolution, Church history, and genuflecting and bowing.

Vogt became a Catholic as a young adult but, prior to embracing a Catholic doctrinal literalism similar to that of McAfee, he was a millennial “none”. Vogt divides his book into nine sections: Answering Atheism, Evil and Suffering, Trusting the Gospels, Explaining the Eucharist, Abortion, Same-Sex Marriage and Transgenderism. Particularly appealing is that each of these includes an “expert interview” with an individual whom Vogt regards as an expert on that topic. These include Peter Kreeft and Jesuit Father Robert Spitzer.

One advantage of Vogt’s “What to Say and How to Say It” is that it includes one of the few easily available popular theological discussions of transgenderism.

When it comes to issues on which there is considerable Catholic disagreement – such as the morality of contraception – McAfee embraces the official Catholic point of view with no mention of contrary beliefs. McAfee turns frequently to The Catechism of the Catholic Church so, in this regard, it would have been helpful had he at least remarked on the catechism’s ambiguity on the topic of freedom of conscience.

Both of these books make good reading for both new and “cradle” Catholics. Readers do well, however, to remember that the authors wrote their books from a certain ideological perspective on what it means to be Catholic.

• Mitch Finley is the author of more than 30 books on popular Catholic theological topics including “The Rosary Handbook: A Guide for Newcomers, Old-Timers and Those In Between” and “What Faith is Not”.

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As fertility rates fall below the replacement rate of 2.1 children per woman to unprecedented levels throughout the western world, is the value of motherhood in crisis? In the developed world at least, there will be too few children to support the elderly and the rest of society in a generation or two due to a declining working age population. It is ironic that a decreased value placed on the work of motherhood and an increased value on building careers is the very thing threatening future jobs and lifestyles.

Perhaps this is why there have been a number of recent Catholic initiatives to try to build up and claim back the value of motherhood and family life again. One such initiative is Danielle Bean’s Momnipotent course, which a number of Catholic mothers throughout New Zealand have already found beneficial and I am halfway through. It is an eight week course which focuses on eight different aspects of motherhood through a short DVD episode followed by small group discussion.

Danielle is an American mother of eight and editor of the Catholic Digest. In her words “many moms quietly resign themselves to the idea that peace, happiness, and joy are things they will need to find in spite of motherhood, not because of it”. She claims that Momnipotent “validates the dignity and importance of motherhood and will help you recognise your uniquely feminine strengths and see how you can use those strengths to find peace, balance, and joy in being the woman God created and called you to be.” So far, this has rung true for me.

The most attractive feature of the course is its uplifting and encouraging tone, which aims to build up mothers of all circumstances. While most of my group have toddlers or babies, many of the women who feature in the DVD have older children and are gratefully received as kindly and supportive mentors passing on their wisdom. It gives me a sense of belonging to a wider church and network of Catholic mums.

There is definitely no shortage of conversation during our discussion time; the participants in my group seem almost relieved to have the opportunity to discuss the dilemmas and change that modern motherhood almost universally brings.

Women within our group have discussed feeling that “feminism” today does not always build women up for their strength and sacrifice in nurturing, caring and mothering. They have related feeling they don’t have the time to simply nurture, care and look after family life. They have related stories of  bosses commenting that this must be the last child, implying that children and pregnancy appointments interfere with work so should be limited. They have discussed feeling that worldly fulfilment and happiness at times conflict with fully embracing motherhood.

Momnipotent is especially valuable because it provides a Catholic forum where motherhood can be re-discovered as a privileged vocation. Pope St John Paul II gave a beautiful description of the “feminine genius” and the course gives endless encouraging anecdotal examples of real women living this out day after day. As Pope St John Paul II stated “the history of every human being passes through the threshold of a woman’s motherhood”.

I would encourage any mother who needs an inspirational, humorous and encouraging reminder of this to set up a Momnipotent course among friends or in their parish.

At least for me, becoming a mother, and now doing this course has been a lesson in reminding me what truly contributing to the good of society means and what real “productiveness” is. Even when the days seem long and the tasks menial, I try to remind myself that the “end product” is so very significant.

As G.K. Chesterton repeatedly said, it is odd that we seem to have the idea that teaching a child — an eternal soul and future citizen — about everything the universe has to offer is less “productive” than a workplace job.

While different mothers are able to combine work outside the home with mothering in different ways, the point is that the work mothers do as mothers is just as important as anything else both economically and socially.

Shannon Roberts, an Auckland-based Catholic mother of two pre-schoolers, coedits the Demography is Destiny blog with her husband Marcus on mercatornet.com

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