Passage of the ‘Voluntary Assisted Dying’ legislation — Media Statement

Here is a Media Release from the Anglican Diocese of Sydney:

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“Public Statement

The passing of the ‘Voluntary Assisted Dying’ legislation will be a matter of regret for our whole community, not just for people of faith who objected strongly or for the doctors who raised their voices against it.

Thanks are due to those MPs who sought to ensure there would be safeguards protecting vulnerable people, medical practitioners and others who care for those who suffer. Unfortunately, most of the proposed amendments were rejected.

This legislation affects not only those who will choose what is euphemistically called ‘Voluntary Assisted Dying’  but will fundamentally affect our culture and values.

We must be vigilant to maintain an emphasis on palliative care so that people have quality to the end of their lives and are not subject to undue pressure because of a lack of resources to support them in their suffering.

I hope the government will ensure that the scope of the bill and those to whom it is applied, does not broaden in the way it has done overseas, being extended to those who are not terminally ill and who suffer from a broad range of illness or disability.

Finally, pray for those suffering that they may be assured that everything will be done to preserve and promote their quality of life, and for medical staff whose relationship with patients has been fundamentally altered by these laws.

Archbishop Kanishka Raffel,

20 May 2022.”

Source.

Why is Canada euthanising the poor?

“Since last year, Canadian law, in all its majesty, has allowed both the rich as well as the poor to kill themselves if they are too poor to continue living with dignity. In fact, the ever-generous Canadian state will even pay for their deaths. What it will not do is spend money to allow them to live instead of killing themselves.

As with most slippery slopes, it all began with a strongly worded denial that it exists. …

Even before Bill C-7 was enacted, reports of abuse were rife. A man with a neurodegenerative disease testified to Parliament that nurses and a medical ethicist at a hospital tried to coerce him into killing himself by threatening to bankrupt him with extra costs or by kicking him out of the hospital, and by withholding water from him for 20 days.”

– Yuan Yi Zhu in Oxford writes in The Spectator (UK online edition) about the situation in Canada – which will get worse when changes come in 2023..

Annual General Meeting 2022

The Annual General Meeting of the Anglican Church League will be held on Thursday 16th June 2022 from 6:00pm at St Andrew’s Cathedral School, 474 Kent Street, Sydney.

Financial members may vote. (Renew here.)

Agenda here.

Entry & room arrangements:

Speech in support of General Synod Resolution on Ukraine

The question of the blessing of same-sex relationships was the big news at General Synod, however there were Resolutions on other topics, including this one on Ukraine, which passed unanimously:

“General Synod 18 Resolution on Ukraine

That General Synod

(a) deplores the clear and flagrant breach of international law by the Russian government invading Ukraine and also the crimes against humanity and war crimes that have been and are being allegedly committed there;

(b) condemns the actions of President Vladimir Putin of Russia in initiating and continuing the war against the democratically elected government of Ukraine and the slaughter and dispossession of the people of Ukraine;

(c) expresses its support and prayers for the people of Ukraine and the extraordinary suffering that they are experiencing in so many ways and assures them of the love and sympathy of this Church for them in their plight;

(d) calls upon our Christian brothers and sisters of the Russian Orthodox Church and Russian Protestant churches to use their voices and influence to oppose the continued deaths, destruction, displacement and dispossession of the people, the homes and the country of their neighbour, Ukraine and their fellow Christians; and

(e) commends those priests and laity of the Russian Orthodox Church and Russian Protestant churches who have called upon their Church leadership and the Russian state leadership to condemn and desist from this invasion and war.”

(Passed unanimously, special Synod prayer for Ukraine following immediately thereafter.)

 

The Rev Patrick Cole, House of Clergy, Canberra & Goulburn, gave this speech in support of General Synod Resolution on Ukraine, 13 May 2022.

Mr President, on 24 February Russian armed forces started an unprovoked, premeditated, and violent invasion of Ukraine. We’ve seen massive aggression; indiscriminate attacks on civilians; apparent mass murder of civilian men, women and children; and Russian threats of the use of nuclear weapons against non-nuclear weapon states.

Reckless destruction of human life; breaches of international law, the laws of war, and humanitarian law.

Barbarism and destruction unparalleled in Europe in kind since the Yugoslav crisis, and in scale since World War 2.

On its independence in 1991, Ukraine inherited one third of the Soviet Union nuclear arsenal. In return for giving up these weapons, and becoming a non-nuclear weapon state, in 1994 Russia, the United States and the UK agreed at treaty level “to respect the independence and territorial sovereignty of Ukraine”, and “refrain from the threat or use of force against Ukraine”. An undertaking flagrantly and unilaterally breached by Russia, a permanent member of the UN Security Council.

The catastrophic results are not only a huge humanitarian disaster, but an immediate threat to the basic fabric of international order, and – unthinkably – genuinely risk full nuclear world war.

As humans knowing the compassion of Christ, our hearts are torn and outraged as the innocent suffer and are forced to flee, and as others as conscripts are forced to fight and kill.

As Christians, we know Kyiv’s role as the cradle of Orthodox mission outreach to bring the gospel of the Prince of Peace to Russia itself.

As Christians, we grieve the way President Putin has garnered support and spiritual endorsement for this invasion from Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, and from some other churches.

We commend those priests and laity of the Russian Orthodox Church and of other Russian churches in Europe, the US, Canberra, and even Russia itself, as they act in costly courage in publicly condemning the war, and church leaders supporting it.

Sisters and brothers, faced with a broken world that needs Jesus, what do we do?

We pray. Pray that Jesus, the Lord of peace and justice, brings his peace and justice, and as Lord of hosts, turns back the armies and causes war to cease.

We speak. And commend that the Synod now speak to:

Image with thanks to David Ould.

Religious Discrimination Bill infographic videos

The Institute for Civil Society has produced several infographic videos which might be helpful in thinking about the need for a Religious Discrimination Bill.

For links to the videos, see this page.

NSW’s voluntary assisted dying laws delayed as MPs fail to vote after marathon sitting

“Voluntary assisted dying is set to be legalised in NSW today, after a marathon debate in the upper house that lasted until midnight failed to produce a vote.

MPs spent more than eight hours debating nearly 100 amendments on Wednesday. …

The majority of the amendments were voted down during the debate, including the push to give aged and residential homes the power to block voluntary assisted dying taking place in their facilities.”

– Report from ABC News.

Update, 1:10pm –

“Voluntary assisted dying has been made legal in New South Wales.

The legislation passed the Lower House of parliament, after a vote to accept the amendments from the Upper House.

The Upper House spent 10 hours debating amendments before a final vote of support 23 to 15.”

(Image: St. Helen’s Bishopsgate.)

Anglican synod angst

“Mrs Naylon was an observer at the Anglican synod … and described the processes as ‘eye-opening’.

She was impressed by ‘the very strong involvement of laity and clergy in decision-making processes’. …”

– This story from The Catholic Weekly shares a few impressions of General Synod from an outside observer, Margaret Naylon, Executive Officer for the Brisbane Roman Catholic Commission for Ecumenism and Inter-religious Relations.

Photo: David Ould.

Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill third reading today in NSW upper house

“Independent MP Alex Greenwich says he is hopeful his Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill will be passed by the NSW upper house by midnight tonight and is pleading with MPs to not use stalling tactics. …”

– Report from ABC News.

Election survey probes parties on faith freedom

“A survey of political parties and candidates on their attitude to religious discrimination has revealed varying levels of support – and in some cases, no support – for measures to ensure religious freedom. …”

– Russell Powell at SydneyAnglicans.net writes about the religiousdiscriminationsurvey.au website.

Related:

The Australian Christian Lobby (not associated with the Anglican Church League – we just have the same initials) has produced a page of “various documents and videos to help you make an informed choice on Election Day”, including this page where they share the answers given to their questionnaire in each electorate as well as each candidate for the Senate.

And not forgetting the call to pray –

“First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.

This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Saviour, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.” – 1 Timothy 2:1-6.

Adultery of the heart

“Judgement is not just for the last day. God also judges now. There are contemporary consequences for misplaced sexual desire. For example, when God hands people over to their shameful lusts and sinful desires in Romans 1:24,26, one of those consequences is the increased engagement in sexually immoral physical behaviour. God gives people what they want, which is the punishment. …

We have to stop and listen to what Jesus says in Matthew 5:28, because he takes a blowtorch to our world’s hypersexualised values.”

– Marshall Ballantine-Jones writes at SydneyAnglicans.net (it’s also in the current Southern Cross magazine).

Image: SydneyAnglicans.net

Anglican Church is ‘heading for a division’

“The Institute for Spiritual Awareness Director Mark Durie says ‘the Anglican Church is heading for a division’.

‘It’s going to be a slow process, but you’ve got two very different world views I think that will be coming up against each other increasingly in the years ahead,’ he told Sky News host Andrew Bolt.”

– Brief video clip from Sky News Australia.

Southern Cross May-June 2022 now out

The May-June 2022 issue of Southern Cross (the magazine of the Diocese of Sydney) will be available in churches this week.

You can also download a PDF version here.

Southern Cross will now be published by Anglican Media Sydney every six weeks.

Lots of encouraging reading.

“It is not my intention to interfere” — but Archbishop Carey writes from England to every Member of the NSW Upper House

“A former archbishop of Canterbury has written to every member of the NSW upper house urging them to vote for voluntary assisted dying this week in a dramatic bid to counter strong opposition to the proposed law from some faith leaders and MPs. …”

– Former Archbishop of Canterbury has written to all members of the New South Wales Legislative Council. “It is not my intention to interfere”, he said.

Story from The Australian. (Subscription.)

Related:

General Synod calls on MPs to oppose euthanasia – SydneyAnglicans.net.

How ‘voluntary assisted dying’ would change our culture and values – Archbishop Kanishka Raffel at SydneyAnglicans.net.

Many related posts on our website.

(Image: St. Helen’s Bishopsgate.)

A perilous moment – with Kanishka Raffel, Richard Condie and Jennifer Hercott

A special edition of The Pastor’s Heart, 15th May 2022 –

“‘A perilous moment.’  – That’s how the Archbishop of Sydney Kanishka Raffel described the situation that the Anglican Church of Australia is in – after an important vote failed to win support of the nation’s bishops at the denomination’s National Synod…

We are speaking first to the Archbishop of Sydney Kanishka Raffel and then to the Gafcon Australia Chair, Bishop Richard Condie of Tasmania and Rev Jennifer Hercott from Queensland.”

Watch or listen here.

Whither The Australian Anglican Church?

“This week the General Synod of the Australian Anglican Church has been debating what its stance is to be on human sexuality. A vote to affirm the church’s traditional position on marriage was strongly supported by clergy and laity but was narrowly rejected by the bishops.

A split is looming, but in this, Australian Anglicans are not unique.

In recent decades, Christian denominations all across the West have been dividing along progressive versus conservative lines. Anglican Churches in Scotland and New Zealand have been impacted by this trend. In North America, denominations affected by splits include the Episcopal Church, the United Methodist Church, the Presbyterian Church (USA) and the American Baptist Churches USA.

The trigger in all these cases has been whether the church will endorse same-sex unions. However, the fault lines run deeper than attitudes to human sexuality. …”

– Melbourne Pastor and Academic The Rev. Dr Mark Durie looks at what is happening in the Anglican Church of Australia and where it may be headed.

He argues that ‘Anglican progressives’ have misread the theological landscape.

For some very helpful context, here’s a chart of Diocesan Representation at General Synods 1962-2022. Click the image for a two-page PDF file.

Table initially complied by Robert Tong, updated by Daniel Glynn 6 May 2022.

(Fun fact: The Diocese of St. Arnaud, mentioned in the table, was in the Mallee and Wimmera regions of north-west Victoria. It merged with the Diocese of Bendigo in 1976.)

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