Our Bishop shares some thoughts and principles about assisted dying now that the End of Life Choice Bill has become law.

"You will be aware that last Sunday 7 November 2021 the possibility of choosing to end one’s life in certain contexts of suffering and imminent death has become legally viable.

You may also be conscious of a lack of specific guidance from me (or other parts of our church) re our pastoral response when, say, we are called on to accompany a person who is making the choice to end their life, or to respond to a family within which this choice is being exercised and for whom many issues are thereby raised.

I apologise for this work not yet being done – a start was made earlier this year and many distractions have since arisen. It will be done and some time space is opening up in the weeks before Christmas (in this unusual year).

So, what I am about to write is a “first word” and not a “last word” (if that is even achievable on such a matter).

One prompt is a document issued by the New Zealand Catholic Bishops which is attached to this email or can be found here.

There is much to ponder in this document, especially in its call for pastors to “accompany” a person and their family on a chosen journey towards death.

In our experience to date we will have accompanied people on their journey towards death, especially death through cancer, and we will understand from that experience, from theological reflection and through the use of the prayers of the church, that accompaniment towards a chosen death is possible and would involve similar reflections and rites to what we are already familiar with.

Nevertheless, the act of choosing to die involves theological and ethical considerations. That is why many of us opposed the introduction of the End of Life Choice Act. The passing of the Act and its enablement since last Sunday does not change the theological and ethical considerations which influence our own thinking on the matter.

Thus as pastors we may find ourselves in a predicament: that we are invited to accompany a person on their chosen journey towards death and we do not agree with such a choice being made.

What are we then to do? At risk of some criticism along the lines of “imbibing the spirit of the age”, I am not going to tell you what to do!

That is, there likely would be a myriad of factors why we would or would not choose to accompany a person making a request of us that is against what we believe. And our own belief or beliefs on the matter, in a specific pastoral engagement with a particular individual and/or their family, might count for little. Our relationship to the individual or to their family might count for much. (This occurs in other pastoral occasions and there is an honourable Christian tradition of “pastoral pragmatics.”)

What I do want to say is this:

• There is no canon of our church requiring you to say Yes to acting against your personal belief on this matter.

• There is no canon of our church forbidding you from saying Yes to accompanying a person towards their chosen death.
• (Noting one part of the Catholic Bishops’ document) There is no canon of our church requiring you to find an alternative pastor to yourself if you wish to say No.
• It is appropriate to consider carefully and to reflect deeply on whether our response to a request to accompany a person on a journey towards a chosen death may contribute to the acceptance in our society of assisted death or euthanasia (and consequentially, to a lessening of a commitment in our society to support excellent palliative care for the dying).

This is very much a first word from me. I am grateful to the NZ Catholic Bishops for their document on this matter. It both charts a possible course in our pastoral care for individuals and for their families and raises questions about where we might yet appropriately land as Anglicans on this matter.

Arohanui, Bishop Peter.