Patrick Craine

As of March 17, 2024, Canada is set to open up medical assistance in dying (MAID) to those whose sole condition is a mental illness. I, of course, share the opinion of many that this extension of the MAID regime is an utter travesty.

I want to pass along a refereed article I have just had published in the Canadian Journal of Bioethics, in which I make a case against it on ethical, legal, and social grounds. My strategy in the article is to show how this extension of the MAID law goes against even the principles of Canada’s own MAID regime. In other words, I argue that even if you accept euthanasia, there are important reasons to reject euthanasia for the mentally ill.

Questioning the Ethics of Assisted Dying for the Mentally Ill | Canadian Journal of Bioethics / R***e canadienne de bioéthique Questioning the Ethics of Assisted Dying for the Mentally Ill Patrick Craine Faculty of Theology, Dominican University College, Ottawa, Canada https://orcid.org/0009-0009-9829-7247 DOI: https://doi.org/10.7202/1108008ar Keywords: medical assistance in dying, MAID, ethics, euthanasia, assisted suicid...

Bishop Barron: "I’m scheduled to give five presentations at World Youth Day in Lisbon, and I would like to assure Bishop Aguiar that every single one of them is designed to evangelize."

World Youth Day and Converting Everyone to Christ - Word on Fire At World Youth Day in Lisbon, I would like to assure Bishop Aguiar that every single one of my presentations will be designed to evangelize.

Dear friends,

A quick thought for the day: Christianity is based on a “new commandment” (John 13:34). But what is 𝑛𝑒𝑤 about this new commandment? Is it a deeper, more radical moral standard? Is Christianity just a higher moral code? To be sure, Christ’s gift was total, and we are called to imitate him with a total self-gift. Our faith has moral demands. But is Christianity, 𝑓𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦, a moral system? No. 𝐴𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑓𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔. Fundamentally, our faith is about our incorporation into Christ, about our 𝑖𝑛𝑛𝑒𝑟 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 that can be achieved only by our total surrender to God’s love. We can’t get ourselves to heaven, no matter how “good” we are.

“The newness of the new commandment cannot consist in the highest moral attainment… The essential point is not the call to supreme achievement, but the new foundation of being that is given to us. The newness can come only from the gift of being-𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ and being-𝑖𝑛 Christ. … Only by letting ourselves be repeatedly cleansed, ‘made pure,’ by the Lord himself can we learn to act as he did, in union with him” (Pope Benedict XVI, 𝐽𝑒𝑠𝑢𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑁𝑎𝑧𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑡ℎ: 𝐻𝑜𝑙𝑦 𝑊𝑒𝑒𝑘, p. 64).

Today Catholics celebrate the coronation of Mary as Queen of Heaven and Earth.

Why do we venerate Mary as Queen? Pope Benedict XVI explains:

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘕𝘢𝘻𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘩 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘘𝘶𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥! 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘎𝘰𝘥’𝘴 𝘏𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵. 𝘖𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦, 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘺’𝘴 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵’𝘴 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱. 𝘏𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘮 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘏𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩 (𝘤𝘧. 𝘗𝘩𝘪𝘭 2: 9-11). 𝘛𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘢 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘐𝘮𝘮𝘢𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘔𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘰𝘯: 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘐𝘯𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯; 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦, 𝘢𝘵 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘵 𝘕𝘢𝘻𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘤 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘺; 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘗𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩; 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺, 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘙𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘈𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘏𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯.

Read his full address from 2010 here: https://www.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/angelus/2010/documents/hf_ben-xvi_ang_20100822.html

Our Lady, Queen of heaven and earth, pray for us!

“That would be HORRIBLE!”

We were at a Catholic family camp last week (shout out Nazareth Family Apostolate), and our 11-year-old son and 8-year-old daughter wanted to ride bikes that the camp facility makes available to guests. But some of the other families with us there had brought their own bikes and left them in the same area, so it was impossible to tell which were theirs.

“Daddy, how do we know which we can use?” they asked me.

“Just go ahead and pick one,” I replied. “The worst that could happen is someone tells you the bike is theirs, and then you just pick a different one.”

“But that would be really EMBARRASSING!” said my son.

“That would be HORRIBLE!” said my daughter.

I chuckled and moved on, but was also struck by the poignant honesty of their reaction. “Out of the mouths of babes,” as they say.

As adults, we are not generally so honest with ourselves, but the same fears affect us to varying degrees. How often have I hesitated to do or say something, or missed opportunities, out of social anxiety, self-consciousness, fear of rejection or others’ judgment? How many times have I self-censored because I was afraid of how people would react, or because I was afraid to sound dumb or inarticulate, or that I would be misunderstood?

We were away for the whole month of July and our mail piled up, but we misplaced our mailbox key. Jenna asked me to see if the Canada Post teller would get the mail out of our box for us. We both know they haven’t done that since COVID began, but obviously it couldn’t hurt to ask anyway. Nonetheless part of me didn’t want to do it because of the potential awkwardness. What if they say no? “That would be HORRIBLE,” I joked to Jenna. Obviously I did it anyway, but I was struck by the absurd hold that this social anxiety has on me.

I’m sure not everyone struggles with this problem to the same extent. Maybe some of you don’t understand. Frankly, I hesitate even to share about this struggle out of fear of people’s judgments. It feels weak, passive, unmanly.

But I know I need to learn to be more open about my struggles. Jenna has really helped me learn this in the last couple years.

Christianity is not a religion for the perfect, but for the broken. The Church is a hospital for sinners, not a museum of saints, as the saying goes. We are called to be perfect, but it is a lifelong struggle that is only achieved by accepting our weakness, and thereby relying on God’s grace. As the Lord told St. Paul: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor. 12:9).

I believe I have a mission to spread the Gospel. Not in the general way that all Christians are, but through a special commitment to apostolic work. Since my teenage years I have wanted to devote my career to serving God and His Church in the work of evangelization.

In this vein, Jenna and I are considering a future venture, some kind of online apostolate, to help Christian families navigate the challenges of contemporary life, to carefully think through the ideologies and influences confronting us, to see them through the lens of faith and our call to be apostles to the world.

Will it come to anything? I don’t know, and that’s not the point right now.

What I want to say is that as I am thinking about this, I find myself afflicted – sometimes almost overcome – with fears and self-doubt.

“We could talk about [such and such].” -- “Oh, but that’ll get me in trouble with [insert name of person/group].”

“We could do [this or that].” -- “But do I really know enough about it?”

“We could think about [something or other].” -- “Yeah, but to do it properly would take a full book…”

“What about [some new idea]?” -- “Who am I to take something like this on?”

I know I need to renounce these fears. I can’t let them hold me back from living fully, and, especially, living out God’s call in my life even when it is hard.

By God’s grace I know I can overcome such challenges -- if I am prepared to confront them rather than hide. Fortunately God has provided family and community to help along the way. Thank you Isaiah, 11, and Anna, 8, for shining a little light on my soul.

Statement from Cardinal Thomas Collins, Archbishop of Toronto re: Discovery of Children’s Remains at former Kamloops Residential School http://bit.ly/jun3-statement

In light of the heartbreaking disclosure of the remains of 215 children at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School, I am writing to express my deep apology and profound condolences to the families and communities that have been devastated by this horrific news. Each time new evidence of a tragedy is revealed, or another victim comes forward, countless wounds are reopened, and I know that you experience renewed suffering.

I take this opportunity to reflect upon the apology I gave publicly before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 2013, words to which I remain committed and accountable: “I wish to apologize sincerely and profoundly to the survivors and their families, as well as to all those subsequently affected, for the anguish caused by the deplorable conduct of those Catholics who perpetrated mistreatment of any kind in these residential schools.” The Church was unquestionably wrong in implementing a government colonialist policy which resulted in devastation for children, families and communities.

If words of apology for such unspeakable deeds are to bring life and healing, they must be accompanied by tangible actions that foster the full disclosure of the truth. Truth comes before reconciliation. On behalf of the people of the Archdiocese of Vancouver, I commit to the following first steps in support of the Nations, families and communities impacted by the recent heartrending disclosure:

1. We will be fully transparent with our archives and records regarding all residential schools, and strongly urge all other Catholic and government organizations to do the same. Our records regarding the Kamloops Indian Residential School (Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc) were provided to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and will remain available for review.

2. We will offer and support mental health support and counselling for family members and others whose loved ones may be buried on the site of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School.

3. We will offer to assist with technological and professional support to help the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc and other affected Nations in whatever way they choose to honour, retrieve and remember their deceased children.

4. We commit to supporting the same process and resources to all Nations in whose territories Catholic-run residential schools were forcibly located, and which fall within the historical boundaries of the Archdiocese of Vancouver.

5. We will renew our efforts to listen to Indigenous Peoples to hear from you how we can best walk with you along the path of justice.

We recognize that there is so much work remains to be done, yet we hope that, if we persevere in these commitments with humility, we can restore the trust among us that will bring healing.

The Vatican released this morning a long-awaited revision to the Code of Canon Law’s book on criminal sanctions. The changes here are very important.

As explained in the article below, the version we’ve had until now was drafted in the 1970s in a time when many ecclesial leaders were questioning the need for law in the Church. As a result, the law was weak and tended to discourage punishment of offences. The sexual abuse crisis was born out of namby-pamby thinking like that.

The new version released today is more robust and takes seriously the need for discipline in the face of grave offences, whether its sexual abuse, heretical teaching, or any other crime.

As Pope Francis writes in the apostolic constitution accompanying today’s release (caveat lector: this is translated from Italian via Google Translate):

“In the past, the lack of perception of the intimate relationship existing in the Church between the exercise of charity and the recourse - where circumstances and justice so require - to sanctioning discipline has caused much damage. This way of thinking - experience teaches us - runs the risk of leading to behaviors contrary to the discipline of morals, whose remedy only exhortations or suggestions are not enough. This situation often carries with it the danger that with the passage of time, such behaviors become consolidated to the point of making it more difficult to correct and in many cases creating scandal and confusion among the faithful. This is why the application of penalties becomes necessary on the part of Pastors and Superiors.”

(The apostolic constitution is available in Italian here: https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/it/apost_constitutions/documents/papa-francesco_costituzione-ap_20210523_pascite-gregem-dei.html)

Read below Ed Pentin’s interview with Msgr. Markus Graulich, under-secretary of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts, who explains the changes and why they are important.

‘Tend the Flock of God’: Vatican Official Explains the Revised Norms on Church Sanctions Msgr. Markus Graulich, under-secretary of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts, discusses how the revisions aim to bring greater justice in the context of other offenses and grave delicts as well as those involving clerical sexual abuse.

Much of our media, on both left and right, are increasingly pushing their ideological biases to the extreme. The "Truth" of the cause easily overrides concerns for the actual truth of the situation. This does real damage in the real world. Case in point: https://buff.ly/3oZkjPe