Catholic Outlook August 2015

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8 CatholicOutlook August 201550 TH ANNIVERSARY OF NOSTRA AETATEThe past, present and future of theChristian-Jewish relationshipDr Raymond CanningTowards the very end of the final sessionof the Second Vatican Council, thedocument Nostra Aetate, the ‘Declarationon the Church’s Relation to Non-Christian Religions’, received definitiveapproval from the Council Fathersmeeting in Rome.At the heart of the declaration is therelationship of the Church to the Jewishpeople, “the descendants of Abraham”(NA 4).As the Jewish French historian JulesIsaac had demonstrated in his book TheTeaching of Contempt: Christian Roots ofAnti-Semitism, Christians had, throughouthistory, presented a distorted image of theJews and their religion.So Pope John XXIII’s meeting inaudience with Jules Isaac on 13 June 1960was ground breaking in that it was therethat the Pope agreed to the request toraise the question of the Jews during thecoming Council.As the theologian Yves Congar statedat the time, if 20 years after Auschwitzthe Council had said nothing aboutits relations with the Jews, the moralcredibility of the Church would havebeen compromised.The approved text of the ‘Declarationon the Church’s Relation to Non-ChristianReligions’ promulgated on 28 October1965 was intended to put an end toevery form of anti-Semitism withinChristianity and to express the Church’sacknowledgment of its own Jewish roots.The declaration shows that, on the basisof sound biblical and historical arguments,the Church was able to set aside centuriesof traditional animosity towards the Jews,and also to create a space for genuineinter-religious dialogue more broadly.It was fitting then that the InternationalCouncil of Christians and Jews (ICCJ)should hold its 2015 conference in Rome,from 28 June to 1 July, to celebrate the 50 thanniversary of Nostra Aetate.As the ICCJ President, Philip ACunningham, writes in his introductionto the conference program: “In additionto looking at the remarkable history andcurrent state of the new relationship, wewill also ask: where do we go in the next50 years?“Clearly we … are all enriched by thediverse ways in which Christian-Jewishrelations have unfolded in different partsof the world.“Some people have led the way ingrappling with the horrible legacy ofthe Shoah. Some have stressed formingpersonal friendships as paramount.Dr Raymond Canning, Executive Secretary of the Bishops Commission for Ecumenism andInter-religious Relations, meets Pope Francis at the Vatican.“When sustained conversationoccurs, theological dialoguecan attain a profound depth …Elsewhere trilateral relations withIslam are vigorously pursued.”Key moments of the conference werethe visit to the Rome Synagogue and themeeting with the Chief Rabbi of Rome,Rabbi Riccardo Shemuel De Segni, andthe audience with Pope Francis in theSala Clementina at the Vatican.In his address to the more than 250conference delegates, the Pope remindedthem that the seeds of cooperationbetween the ICCJ and the CatholicChurch had been sown as early as 1947.The ‘Emergency Conference onAntisemitism’, held in the Swiss town ofSeelisberg, formulated basic statementsthat influenced the Second VaticanCouncil in its reflection on Judaism.It was this reflection that foundexpression in the signal 1965 DeclarationNostra Aetate.The Broken Bay InstitutePROFESSIONALDEVELOPMENT& CONTINUINGE D U C A T I O NInternational Speaker SeriesChurch Governance andLeadership Courses:Exploring the Opportunities,Issues and RisksDiocesan Development FundCatholic Diocese of ParramattaThis professional development program will run over three days in PennantHills, Sydney and focus on Catholic Church governance, leadership andmanagement with Emeritus Professor Francis Morrisey OMI and leadingChurch canonists, theologians and practitioners.Supporting thegrowing needs of theinstitutions and agencies withinthe Catholic Diocese of Parramattawww.parra.catholic.org.au/ddfBrokenBayInstituteRev Prof GeraldO’Collins SJ AOAdjunct Professor,ACU and HonoraryResearch Fellow,MCDSr ElizabethDodds RSCFormerCongregationalLeader, Sisters ofCharity of AustraliaMary AikenheadMinistriesFr Gerald A.Arbuckle SMCo-director,Refounding andPastoralDevelopment, SydneyDr Jim D’OrsaLecturer - Mission &CultureThe Broken BayInstituteSr HelenDelaney RSMLecturer in CanonLaw, CatholicTheological CollegeMs TeresaBrierleyVice Chancellor ofPastoral MinistriesCatholic Diocese ofMaitland-NewcastleFr Peter SlackParish Priest; VicarGeneral, Diocese ofLismore; AssociateJudicial Vicar, RegionalTribunal of SydneyBr John HenryThornber CFCDiocesan SchoolsConsultantChristian BrothersOceania andEdmund RiceEducation AustraliaTHEwww.bbi.catholic.edu.auBROKEN BAY INSTITUTE P: +61 2 9847 0030 • E: cmartin@bbi.catholic.edu.auhttp://www.bbi.catholic.edu.au/short-courses/Church-Governance-and-Leadership-CoursesSPEAKERS INCLUDEDisclosure StatementThe Diocesan Development Fund Catholic Diocese of Parramatta (DDF) is not subject to the provisions of the Corporation Act 2001 nor has it been examined or approvedby the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.Deposits with the DDF are guaranteed by CDPF Limited, a company established by the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference for this purpose.We welcome your investment with the DDF rather than with a profit oriented commercial organisation as a conscious commitment by you to support the Charitable,Religious and Educational works of the Catholic Church.Neither the DDF nor the Trustees of the Roman Catholic Church for the Diocese of Parramatta are prudentially supervised by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority;contributions to the DDF do not obtain the benefit of the depositor protection provisions of the Banking Act 1959; the DDF is designed for investors who wish to promotethe charitable purposes of the DDF.
CatholicOutlook August 2015 9Euthanasia ‘a dangerous, radical shift in society’s foundational values’Debra VermeerEuthanasia is not an incremental changeto current end-of-life practices, but aradical and massive shift in our society’sand civilisation’s foundational values, saysinternationally renowned Australian ethicistMargaret Somerville.Dr Somerville, who is a Professor ofLaw, Professor in the Faculty of Medicine,and Founding Director of the Centrefor Medicine, Ethics and Law at McGillUniversity in Montreal, Canada, wasspeaking at The University of Notre Dame(Sydney) as part of a series of public lectureson ethical issues surrounding euthanasiaand assisted suicide during her recent visitto Australia.Her presentation focused on lessons tobe learnt from the debate in Canada, wherethe Supreme Court earlier this year struckdown a ban on doctor-assisted suicide formentally competent Canadian patients withterminal illnesses.She said one of the key argumentsof pro-euthanasia advocates was thateuthanasia is no different to medicaltreatments, such as palliative sedation, thatare already widely practised.“When used correctly as part of palliativecare, palliative sedation is not euthanasia,”she said. “In palliative sedation as part ofstandard palliative care, physicians oftenallow the patient to become conscious fromtime to time and use the lightest possiblesedation consistent with relieving suffering.It’s only used as a last resort, and not often.”Dr Somerville said acting with anintention to kill is “different-in-kind”from allowing a natural death and thatdoctors are one of the groups mostopposed to euthanasia.She said in The Netherlands whereeuthanasia was legal there has been somuch resistance by physicians to carryingit out that the government has had to setup “mobile euthanasia units” to visit homesand attend to euthanasia requests.“Euthanasia is not just an incrementalexpansion of current ethically and legallyaccepted end-of-life decisions, such asrefusal of life-support treatment, as proeuthanasiaadvocates argue,” she said.“It seems that most politicians andmany Canadians do not recognisethe momentousness of a decision tolegalise euthanasia. It’s not incrementalchange, but rather a radical and massiveshift in our society’s and civilisation’sfoundational values.”Dr Somerville said another proeuthanasiastrategy to be resisted wasthe euphemising of euthanasia by callingit “medical treatment” and “medicallyassisted death”.“Euthanasia is not medical treatment.Defining it as such presents serious dangersto patients, the trust-based physicianpatientrelationship, and medicine,” she said.The medicalisation of assisted suicideestablishes suicide as a legitimate responseto suffering, thus endorsing suicide, DrSomerville said. Studies have shown thatmore honest language such as “state-sanctioned suicide” or “physicians killingtheir patients” reduces public support fordeliberately inflicted death.“Words matter,” she said. “Languageaffects emotions and intuitions, includingmoral intuitions, which are important toethical decision making.”Drawing on the Canadian experience,Dr Somerville said the appeal to individualautonomy, to empathy and compassion,and the promotion of the idea that death isactually a benefit to someone whose life isaffected by illness, were all pro-euthanasiaarguments to be vigorously resisted.She said the dangers of legalised killingto society as a whole must outweighindividual circumstances.“Euthanasia is special (among ethicaldebates) because there’s nothing newabout it. We’ve always got old, suffered,become terminally ill, been dying andsomebody could have killed us, and wesaid ‘No, that is wrong. We don’t do that.’“So that’s why euthanasia is soimportant. Because if we change that,we’re changing the very roots of oursociety. I think we’re changing the essenceof what it means to be human if we startkilling each other.”Dr Somerville’s presentation at TheUniversity of Notre Dame was a jointinitiative of the Faculties of Medicineand Law and the University’s Institute forEthics and Society.Margaret Somerville in Sydney. Photo: Gerard Williams, The University of Notre Dame Australia.
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