The new Archbishop of Dublin, Dermot Farrell The incoming Archbishop of Dublin has warned that the current push to legalise euthanasia sends a message that some lives are less valuable than others.
Archbishop-elect Dermot Farrell also said that what he described as a “vulnerable class” of people are going to suffer if the bill were to come into law.
He called on laypeople to speak out on the issue. “The message has to be spoken very strongly. Not just by priests and bishops, but by every single person in this country. Because what politicians ultimately respond to is the views of the people”.
Speaking to The Irish Catholic, Dr Farrell was emphatic about the teaching of the Church, saying, “It has to be stated very bluntly, that if it [euthanasia] comes into law at some stage, it’s not only going to encourage the acceptance of assisted suicide, but it’s also going to weaken the protection against what you might call ‘non-consensual killing’ of your vulnerable class of people.”
The tone of the debate is also of concern to the archbishop-elect, his understanding being that all human rights come under threat if the right to life is further removed.
“When I listen to what’s being said, there’s almost an assumption underlying this whole thing that there is such a thing as a life without value,” Dr Farrell said, continuing, “We can’t accept that. Every life has a value. There is no life that is not worth living.”
“If you don’t have the value of life then you can’t talk about other values,” he said.
He referenced his own mother’s 112 day struggle with illness, saying that “every minute” of her life was valuable to her.
“It’s up to us [bishops] to encourage people to speak out and to push the importance of life which is the fundamental value that every other value is based on. If you don’t have the value of life then you can’t talk about other values. You can be talking about the rights to a home, or the rights to x, y, and z – but if you don’t have the right to life including that end of life, you can’t talk about other values,” Archbishop-elect Farrell said.