Euthanasia a rejection of God

IN the context of Jack “Dr Death” Kevorkian’s release from prison, our present culture tends to consider suffering the epitome of evil. There is a great temptation to resolve the problem of suffering by eliminating it at the root, by hastening death so it occurs at the moment considered most suitable.

In Christian teaching, suffering, especially suffering during the last moments of life, has a special place in God’s saving plan; it is in fact a sharing in Christ’s passion.

Intentionally causing one’s own death, or suicide, is murder because it is a rejection of God’s sovereignty and loving plan. It is a refusal of love for self, the denial of a natural instinct to live, a flight from the duties of justice and charity owed to one’s neighbour, to communities or to the whole of society.