Relativism kills

Euthanasia is appealing to more people around the world as the way out of terrible suffering, and the Church is engaging the issue publicly wherever it becomes a hot controversy. It was recently in Italy, and is now in Spain.

Cardinal Antonio Cañizares of Spain has weighed in again on the controversial request of a Spanish woman who is seeking euthanasia, saying relativism and breakdown of morals are underlying her case.

In an article published by the Spanish daily “La Razon,” the Cardinal said “relativism,” the “perversion of language,” and “moral breakdown” are symptoms of a “society on the verge of losing its morals.” 

See, it goes far beyond our borders.

The case of Inmaculada Echevarria, who suffers from muscular dystrophy and wants to have her artificial respirator disconnected, is an example of euthanasia and thus constitutes an attack on life, the Cardinal stated.

“I am saddened by her physical and spiritual suffering, and I pray for her,” Cardinal Cañizares said.  “But no matter what they say, this is a case of euthanasia.

Note that comment: “But no matter what they say, this is a case of euthanasia.” It is what it is, no matter what anybody calls it. Changing the words is a marketing strategy.

“Moral norms forbid the removal of ordinary means of nourishment and respiration from a sick person, even if the illness is terminal.  The omission of these ordinary means constitutes an act of euthanasia,” the Cardinal said.

“With his action of taking away the respirator,” he continued, “this simple and without a doubt good woman, who is exhausted, will die.  An attack against life will have been carried out.

But the flaw in the argument for ‘compassionate care’ breaks down – as flawed reasoning always does – when it’s applied so selectively.

In his article, the cardinal noted the paradox that on the one hand, officials are allowing the voluntary suicide of Echevarria, and yet on the other, are calling for “humanitarian treatment” of Basque terrorist Ignacio de Juana, who is carrying out a hunger strike, in order to save his life.  “While efforts are made to keep DeJuana alive, at the same time in Andalusia, in my beloved Granada, the removal of an ordinary means to stay alive, even though she is requesting it, is being officially allowed,” he said.

The Cardinal called the “controlled fast” of the Basque terrorist “another act of terrorism: ‘refined and intelligent,’ but terrorism nonetheless,” and he condemned it in clear terms. 

“What we are seeing here,” he added, “is the deliberate execution of a prolonged act of violence against his own life, as part of a terrorist plan, in order to paralyze individuals and social institutions and create an atmosphere in which people cannot act freely.  He has succeeded in getting many to foolhardily and blindly take his side for ‘humanitarian reasons’.”

Cardinal Cañizares lamented the relativism evident in these situations.  “What is okay in one case, is not okay in the other.  What is said here doesn’t apply over there.  Everything is strategic and calculated.  We are immersed in a host of contradictions, in an ocean of confusion, in pure relativism, which undermines and destroys society.  There is no way out of that, no progress.”

“Relativism is destructive,” the cardinal stated.  “Neither man or nor society has a future if it is embraced.  Neither can democracy be based on relativism, which has no basis whatsoever.  Relativism leads to the destruction of democracy and generates violence and totalitarianism: that of the dictatorship of relativism. We are for life, not for relativism!” he said in conclusion.

Then, another bishop picked up the issue.

Bishop Juan Antonio Reig Pla of Cartagena, President of the Spanish Bishops’ Subcommittee on the Family and Human life, said this week “those who lack the light of faith end up desiring death, and that is what is happening with the pro-euthanasia groups.”

During a radio interview, the Spanish bishop said, “There are more suicides in Spain than car accidents, because this is a culture that wants to obscure and extinguish the light of the faith or provoke an eclipse that ends up stripping all meaning from love, from suffering, and from the special situations of life.”

He pointed out the Eschevarria is a widow with no family, she’s suffering in loneliness, and “susceptible to manipulation” by pro-euthanasia forces.

He noted that Echevarria is being cared for “in a Catholic hospital.  Life is a gift from God, it is the greatest social good, and we live together in order to help and support one another, and more so in cases of infirmity.  It would be a barbarity if we were not to respond to her needs; a means that could seem extraordinary because of the number of years she has spent in the hospital, but is never disproportionate.”

I think the term “an inconvenient truth” is much overused these days, but it seems to apply here.