What is Death with Dignity?

The Catholic Times' View from the Ark column, written by a research assistant and professor of Life Science at the Catholic University of Korea, shares her thoughts on the "assisted death with dignity movement."

In Korea, there has been a recent movement to legislate ‘assisted death with dignity’. At first glance, ‘assisted death with dignity’ sounds like it means receiving assistance and dying with dignity, but in reality, it means suicide with the aid of a doctor. 

This is a distortion of language. The background of physician-assisted suicide, called euthanasia with dignity, began in the United States in 1972 when the governor of Oregon started promoting the movement.

He strategically used the expression ‘death with dignity’ to reduce opposition from citizens and the legislature and gain support. In the end, Oregon successfully legalized physician-assisted suicide in 1994 by packaging the meaning of physician-assisted suicide with dignity and mercy, and it has been legal since 1997.

In Korea, confusion over the term ‘death with dignity’ began when the media reported ‘withdrawal and suspension of life-sustaining treatment’ as euthanasia or passive euthanasia. Since then, there has been a movement to immediately equate the decision to terminate life-sustaining treatment with death and to overlook the fact that “even if life-sustaining treatment is withheld or suspended, beneficial and necessary medical treatment and basic care continue for the patient.” [The Catholic Viewpoint— we all have the freedom if it is medically decided that one will die in a short period, and life support treatment would only delay the moment of death, to refuse life support treatment]

With the revision of the Life-sustaining Treatment Decision demanded in 2022, expressions that considered physician-assisted suicide as a death with dignity began to be used interchangeably, and the misuse is becoming increasingly severe. This confusion of terms not only obscures the word's original meaning but also carries the serious risk of distorting social perceptions of life and death.

According to the “Trends and Tasks of Well-dying Discussions for Preparing for Future Society,” published by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs in December 2024, 82% of Koreans are in favor of physician-assisted suicide, which is expressed as assisted euthanasia. However, a closer look at the survey reveals surprising results. The top five services that the public “needs most to achieve a good death” are: first, relief of pain that may occur during the end-of-life period; second, support for the cost of treatment for patients at the end-of-life; third, psychological and emotional support for patients at the end-of-life and their families; fourth, strengthening of end-of-life medical care that can be received at home; and fifth, improving the quality of medical services received during the end-of-life period.

This shows that there are still many people who believe that “life is sacred and no one can dispose of life at will.” Modern medicine has reached a level where it can sufficiently relieve most pain, and many people agree that care and support are essential during the end-of-life period. So why do they package physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia as “death with dignity” and appear impatient because they cannot legislate it?

The government is investing a considerable amount of money to solve the low birth rate problem. Still, it is not paying enough attention to specific and realistic support for those living at the end of life. In this reality, we need to reflect on whether we are not gradually diluting the essential value of ‘communion and solidarity among people’ by being influenced by the tendency to evaluate life solely based on usefulness and productivity.

A person's life is an epic narrative that cannot be captured in a single book. We need to reclaim the meaning of “death with dignity.” What can we do? 

First, if you hear the media, legislators, or government officials refer to physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia as “dignified death,” we need to point out clearly and respectfully that this is inaccurate. Legislators and policymakers should also recognize that support for physician-assisted suicide is not simply a vote of “yes,” but rather a reflection of our society's institutional deficiencies and lack of care.

The Best I Can Do

 

In the Sunday Chat column of The Catholic Times, an artist hired to help remodel a church shares with readers what he learned from the experience.

While working as an artist, I have supervised the construction of five Catholic churches. This is because I wanted to share my experience of visiting 180 churches in two dioceses over three years and analyzing their architectural features to design the covers of the parish bulletins for the Busan and Masan dioceses. When word got out that I was doing something out of the blue, my artistic colleagues joked that I couldn't make a living from my artistic talents alone. 

They admired Michelangelo and Gaudí but were puzzled to see me working on an architectural site. Also, when I wrote a short poem that was published in a literary magazine, they told me to dig a well somewhere, please. They said it was for my own good, but they were trying to keep me in the same old box. In any case, the change in my activities was spurred by my own need to express myself.

Three years ago, I was at the church remodeling site in the Diocese of Busan. The church was designed by a famous architect in Seoul and had a very high floor. The ceiling structure, which was 15 meters high from the floor, was dilapidated and needed repair. Many contractors had visited the site and given up, so I was contacted by chance. Knowing the pastor's concerns, I eventually took on the project and had to find various breakthroughs that differed from the existing specifications due to the low budget.

Explaining the solution to the pastoral council and the building committee and getting them to understand the construction process was complicated because they didn't trust anything other than traditional methods for such a challenging project. It was a replay of their past history, where they had no choice but to oppose the project, even if it meant that the project would not proceed, to avoid being held accountable for the wrong decision.

This statement silenced the room for a moment, but it didn't change the stubbornness of the person who opposed it from the beginning. I had to say something. “Brother, have you ever lived this day before?  How did you walk out of your front door today since you have not lived this day before?” The meeting ended, and the next day I was appointed general manager of the project. I think the words I uttered that day were the wisest words I have ever spoken.

When it comes to the statement "Render to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's," the believer is faced with a stark choice. The "best" and "best I can do" are different. The "best" is an absolute value, while the "best I can do" is relative. The world seeks the best, and God desires the best we can do. How humble is the best that finite human beings can achieve, and how beautiful is the best activity combined with a place in life to one who looks to God!

Prostitution—Disease of Humanity

The Catholic Peace Weekly had an article on illegal prostitution and the violation of women’s human rights, even though rampant in society. They looked into the actions of Paju City to close down the largest prostitution district in Korea with 70 years of history and met those helping these women get out of the district and become self-sufficient.

“They will never be self-sufficient!" This is what a 70-year-old business owner who is protesting the closure of Paju City’s prostitution district said to a Paju City official. 

Self-sufficiency means ‘living on one’s own strength’. During the 70-year history of the district, victims of prostitution lived isolated lives where it was difficult to support themselves. Most of them, whose days and nights are reversed, have solved their food, clothing, and shelter problems in confined spaces. The longer they worked in the red-light district, the more they forgot how to use public transportation, find directions, purchase goods, and conduct daily life.

The ‘Prostitution Prevention Act’ went into effect in 2004. Although this law has been on the books for exactly 20 years, prostitution is still being bought and sold in 12 red-light districts across the country, including Paju, the largest in Korea. They looked into the actions of Paju City, which declared the closure of red-light districts and allocated more than twice the amount of support funds compared to other local governments to help victims of prostitution become independent. 

The Church’s View of Prostitution: “Prostitution is a crime and a disease of humanity”.

In the preface to the book “Women Crucified: The Shame of Human Trafficking in the Streets” written by a priest from the “Pope John XXIII Community” in 2019. Pope Francis stated, “People are not beings that can be bought and sold,” and asked, “Please courageously step forward in rescue and recovery activities for victims.”

The Catholic Church defines prostitution as a clear violation of human dignity and a social disaster. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states, “Prostitution harms the dignity of the person who sells their body, reducing them to an instrument of sexual pleasure,” and “Those who pay also sin gravely against themselves” (paragraph 2355).

The Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People expressed concern at the First International Pastoral Conference for the Liberation of Women on the Street held in Rome in 2005, stating that “sexual exploitation is an act of violence against women, an act that injures their dignity and a serious violation of their fundamental human rights.” It also expressed concern that “the number of women on the street is increasing dramatically worldwide due to a complex mix of economic, social, and cultural reasons.”

The final document produced by the pastoral conference stated that “the victims are torn to pieces and are psychologically and spiritually dead” and that “most of them have stories of violence, abuse, distrust, self-degradation, fear, and deprivation of opportunity” and that “what they seek is human relationships, love, security, affection, confidence and a better future for themselves and their families.”

Sister Hong Seong-sil, former director of the prostitution victim protection organization ‘Sonya’s House,’ stated, “Human dignity, which is to regard human sexuality given to us by God as noble and not to treat it as material or instrumental, is an important value that our church cannot give up, and it is the foundation of the life of a believer.”

Cardinal Kim Soo-hwan was the great-uncle of women in prostitution. Starting in the 1988 holiday season, Cardinal Kim frequently visited shelters for victims of prostitution and talked with them for three to four hours. The reason Cardinal Kim remembered and called the women by their names, supported them without anyone knowing, and even visited their funerals was because he considered them daughters of the Lord who lived lives of pain, prejudice, and suffering. This was the love he wanted the church to show them.

Building A Synodal Church

 

A report on a research seminar that examined the three-year journey of the 16th Regular General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops and sought specific implementation measures was published on the Now/Here Catholic website. This summary aims to convey the thoughts of some members of the Korean Church during the research seminar. Here is the address that will give you the page of the article—https://www.catholicnews.co.kr

On March 15, the Vatican's Synod Secretariat emphasized the role of local churches in implementing the synod. It explained that local churches should "appropriately 'accept' the direction expressed in the 'final document' of the 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops to fit the needs of local cultures and communities. This will be a three-year process that will end in October 2028. This article will only include the issues from the first of the two presentations in response to the final document. 

A professor analyzed the theological foundation of the "Final Document" and explored how these insights can be applied to the church. He also emphasized that all church processes and procedures should be carried out through listening, discernment, consultation, decision-making, and responsible explanation and evaluation, based on transparency, to realize the prophetic power of the ‘Final Document’ insights.

He focused on theological explanations of listening and discernment methods, the subtle tension between consultation and decision, and discussions of evaluation methods. As a lay theologian, he also proposed a new way of imagining lay participation and lay ministry in the church. 

A priest commented, "We need to approach the ‘final document’ from various angles and perspectives on theological reflection, inspiration, and practical implications.”

He asked whether the ‘final document’ suggests conversion and formation to realize synodalitas (walking together). While formation requires theological statements on the method and direction, results are not analyzed. For example, he said, “All churches in the world celebrate the Eucharist daily, but why do churches and believers not easily convert to a synodal life? Is the catechesis of the parish (church) leading people to a synodal life of faith? Is theological education cultivating clergy with a synodal attitude? Are today’s Catholic universities profoundly influencing the spread of Catholic values ​​and beliefs? If we do not honestly ask ourselves these questions and make efforts to  find answers, the theological statements can be empty.”

He said that most parishes today are “centered on the liturgy and the sacraments, so there is a risk that clergy will only be administrators of the sacraments and ceremonies” and not fully active as religious educators and formators. He suggested we should honestly consider this reality and find new formation methods.

He further said that forming a public discourse is important for the change and renewal of the church community and urged church media and theologians to work toward this goal. Although they may be unable to create a grand public discourse, he hoped there would be more small-scale humanistic religious study groups among believers beyond parish boundaries.

One priest said: “If Synodalitas is a process of renewing the essence of the church, what is important in this process is not ‘integrating the people of God into the hierarchy,’ but that the structure of the church must ‘find its own position within the people of God,’” and that “the identity and mission of the laity must be fully recognized and accepted as the ‘true subject’ of the church.”

He pointed out that “laymen become ‘true subjects’ according to the essential nature of baptism, and the sacrament of baptism grants rights, not just duties, in the church” and that “if the church fails to accept this, the relationship between laymen and ordained clergy will remain in the institutional church model that reflects an unequal social model, and the church of ‘participation and shared responsibility’ will disappear.”

Never Lose Hope— Happy Easter!

The Preciousness of Faith columnist at the Catholic Peace Weekly offers some thoughts in preparation for the Feast of Easter.

We are in the Jubilee, but the columnist laments that he feels there is strangely no Jubilee atmosphere. The current situation in our country, which is extremely chaotic, may not be unrelated to this atmosphere.

Pope Francis set the theme of the Jubilee as ‘Pilgrim of Hope’ — the Church will light a flame of hope in this era of wounds and loss of hope. But what kind of hope can the Church convey to the world in this dark era? As the biblical text of the Jubilee says (cf. Romans 5:5), how confidently are we conveying that hope?

The priest columnist recently read an article about a book called "I Wish Today Was Tomorrow". The author tells the story of a mother who chose euthanasia (assisted death) while suffering from terminal cancer and invites us to deeply reflect on life and death. The remaining time in a state where there is no hope of recovery will be a more painful experience than death. How painful must it have been for a patient in Zurich, Switzerland, who was waiting for tomorrow, the day of her “planned death”, to say that she wished the day would come sooner?

Since the columnist was at the side of his mother, who suffered from pancreatic cancer and passed away in the arms of God, he could relate to the above story. However, on the other hand, he also felt regretful that it had to be that way. This is not just because the church prohibits euthanasia. In fact, this is a problem that all people, not just terminally ill patients, have to face.

At some point, whether due to old age or illness, we will stand before the “cliff of hope” where all human hope falls to the ground. When there is no hope, what meaning and value does the time left until death have? We will fall into depression and spend our days in misery, and we will even resent God for still keeping us alive. In this way, we are all weak beings who cannot live even a single moment without hope.

However, we Christians have hope beyond death. And that hope changes everything. The moment we place our hope in God, who governs life and death, the time we have left becomes an incredibly precious time to prepare for meeting God, organize our relationships, and reorder our lives. He experienced this at a hospice and wished he could convey this hope to the people of the world. Wouldn’t it have been possible to change the decision to choose assisted death?

At this point, we can say, as author Han Kang said, “The dead save the living.” Believers who have walked this path before us tell us to find what hope we have. How blessed, precious, and great that hope is. They tell us not to realize it too late but to find that hope, organize our lives now, prepare for a beautiful death, and live today beautifully and brilliantly, given to us as a gift.

Jesus set foot on Jerusalem after the holy transfiguration. Wasn’t the reason he went to Jerusalem to walk the path of pain, suffering, despair, and death before us so that he could be with us and become our hope when we reached the valley of death?

Let us remember that Lent is a pilgrimage to Jerusalem with the Lord and a journey to find the hope that the Lord wants to give us. The world desperately longs for hope. However, it is not easy to dream of hope beyond death alone. If we believers stand up and boldly spread hope, living in it confidently, won’t the world become brighter and more hopeful?  Happy Easter!

Silence is Golden

In one of the columns in the Catholic Times, a Benedictine monk gives the readers some good advice from the Desert Fathers on the value of silence.

One of the most significant weaknesses of modern society is the difficulty of listening to others. People are good at expressing themselves because of their strong opinions and personalities but are not used to listening. In fact, we have all experienced that it is much more challenging to listen to others than to speak. This is a common experience for all of us.  Wasn't Adam, our first human, also expelled from paradise because he didn't listen to God? 

A monk asked the abbot, "I can't control my tongue. What should I do?" The abbot  asked, 'Are you at peace when you speak?' He replied, 'No'. The abbot said, "If you are not at peace, why are you speaking? Keep your mouth shut. It is better to listen than to talk." 

This adage emphasizes the wisdom of listening. Words do not guarantee us peace. Excessive and empty words rather deprive us of inner calm and peace. We live in an era where words are too many. There can never be peace in a place where you don't have listening, and you can't expect dialogue, compromise, reconciliation, and unity. That may be why our society struggles to overcome conflict, confrontation, violence, and division. What we need more than anything is listening. Why is that?

Listening is the premise of the conversation. We share our thoughts and opinions through conversation and get to know each other. To do this, we first need to listen to the other person. If you don't listen, the conversation won't work. The conversation goes nowhere if you only emphasize your words, thoughts, opinions, and arguments. The same goes for prayer, which is a conversation with God. First, if you constantly repeat yourself rather than listening to God, it's not prayer. That's why listening is essential and must precede.

It's important to listen, but you must listen carefully. If you listen incorrectly, you can get a wrong response. It's always the same answer when people listen to what they want. The prerequisites for listening well are silence and an open mind. These two must go together. No matter how silent you are, you can't hear the other properly if you close your heart. This is because stereotypes, prejudices, and biases that make for a closed mind prevent us from hearing properly. 

Listening half-heartedly is not authentic listening. Listening should be done with respect. Such listening will enable genuine dialogue and pave the way for peace, free from conflicts, confrontations, grudges, and division.

Listening is directly related to obedience. Christians know why obedience is essential in our faith journey. 'Obedientia', derived from the Latin verb "audire," means "to listen." "Be obedient to your parents" is like "listening to your parents carefully." As such, obedience begins with listening. However, it does not stop at simply listening but is completed when you practice what you hear. 

By obeying God, we return to Him again. This means listening to God and living according to His word. At the heart of God's word is love. Therefore, the path of obedience is the path of love. Jesus set us an example of obedience. He took a path of obedience to his father, which was possible because of his love for God and us. As disciples of Christ, we will return to God through this path of obedience, the path of love.

With the 'Desert Fathers', 'listening' was the word emphasized by disciples. A disciple was a person who listened to and practiced what his teacher taught. The disciple had to obey everything the teacher said unconditionally. Obedience to the teacher was thought to be obedience to God. The disciple cleared his mind and tamed his passion by obeying, eventually achieving inner peace.

A monk is a 'listener'. This means that he is a disciple who learns rather than teaches. His true teacher is Christ. We Christians are also disciples of Christ. That is why you must always remain a listener and practice what you hear. A disciple of Christ is a person who always listens to God and practices his will while trying to listen to and respond to the world and people. He is a constant learner.

You can become more talkative as you get older through your accumulated experiences. You can also be tempted to teach others with more intensity.  In order not to be treated as an old fogey, you must reduce your words and show the wisdom one has gained from experiences through actions and life. In our era of talking a lot, listening and speaking with our lives may be more effective. Listening is a sign of a student. If we want to be true disciples of Christ, we need  to be the 'listener' rather than the 'talker.'

Faith And Reason Contemplating Truth

In the Catholic Peace Weekly's Preciousness of Faith column, the priest offers some thoughts on a serious problem in our understanding of the church and our behavior as Catholics.

German political theorist Hannah Arendt used the term "the banality of evil". This term means that evil does not arise from particularly evil motives or wickedness but from everyday thoughtlessness and avoidance of responsibility. Of course, this cannot be generalized, but crimes and evil deeds due to lack of thought are common.

When religion becomes distant from Reason, it becomes a dangerous entity that causes significant harm to society. When such religion colludes with politics, it risks becoming a tool of agitation and a puppet of politics. 

We are witnessing this worldwide, especially in today's Korean society. Catholics are often criticized as being "unintellectual". They go to church diligently, but when asked about the Bible or doctrine, they usually say they do not know much. They generally think that what happens at home or in society is separate from faith. "Faith and life are separate" is the problem.  Such non-intellectual faith will easily descend into false piety or pseudo-religion.

Some believers protest why the church is involved in politics and social issues. Some believers have declared that they will no longer attend church after giving up their decades-long religious life because of bishops and priests who support the impeachment of the president.

Korean society is currently in a very chaotic situation. In times like these, we need to calm our minds and reason about what is happening in society, especially from the perspective of the church and faith.

The church has always emphasized the importance of Reason in faith. Pope John Paul II said Faith and Reason are "like two wings that fly to contemplate the truth" (Encyclical Faith and Reason). Reason without faith cannot reach the highest level of thought, and faith without Reason runs the risk of falling into blindness or myth. When faith and Reason help each other and develop, they greatly benefit humanity.

Of course, it is not easy for individual believers to think and judge all the world's problems from a religious perspective. That is why it is necessary to listen to the church's official position and make it their own. The church, with the help of experts in each field, theologically reflects on various problems of the present age that the world and the church are concerned about and expresses an official position on them. Of course, the church cannot force uniform thinking on believers. Still, by pointing out various errors in the world and suggesting a direction toward truth according to the teachings of the church, it encourages Christian believers to expand their thinking in the truth freely, engage in dialogue with the world, and participate in building a more humane, just, and peaceful world.

The Episcopal Conference clearly stated the church's official position regarding recent political issues related to the declaration and lifting of martial law and the president's impeachment. Of course, this is not doctrine, but since it is based on Catholic teaching and the scriptures, believers must understand the spirit of the church contained in it and strive to avoid any errors that may arise.

Human Reason is weak and easily entangled in vested interests. The Bishops'  teaching helps us make prudential judgments to help our dulled Reason. In this time of political turmoil, we must find a way to realize the kingdom of God on this land through faith, free from personal interests and ideologies, and pray that the truth is realized, that lies and violence disappear, and that justice and peace come.