Letters: Stem-cell research: the reverse scenario

Sydney
14 April 2002

Thousands welcome relics to St Mary’s

Woman chooses palliative care ahead of euthanasia

Jail being used for wrong purpose

Oarful day for Riverview

Caritas helps quake victims

Embryo pact on ‘slippery moral slope’

In love with the Little Way and saintly humility

Archbishop calls for saint’s help to protect the unborn

Woomera action may be justified, says bishop

Shed workers use new skills to help others

Spirituality, ethics in focus

St John’s, Woodlawn, reunion

Janelle’s bake takes the cake

Perfect patron – a saint with a joy that inspires

Litany in Chinese verse

Editorial: Asking for a little help

Letters: Stem-cell research

Conversation: Abduction ‘gave me strength, courage’ - Juliana Waithera Muiruri, aid worker

Reflections: Peace and the Arab-Israeli conflict

From Samoa with love ... and a gift

Opinion: Relics – veneration of God’s transforming grace

Pilgrims and Padre Pio – it’s big business

Feature: First priest to the Great South Lands

Letters: Stem-cell research: the reverse scenario

The current pro-stem-cell argument appears to have two prongs:

1 How dare Catholics enter the debate? and
2 The interests of the individuals concerned are paramount.

In response to the first issue, one would simply state that Catholics are entitled to enter the debate, as much as are those who would argue differently.

Second, the teaching of the Catholic Church is constant and universal, unlike the interests of the individual which can, and do, vary. This can be demonstrated succinctly.

Just imagine the reverse scenario … if medical science wanted to remove the stem cells of high profile persons suffering quadriplegia/degenerative diseases to treat certain ailments in others, even though it meant killing the donors in the process.

One can only wonder if the personal interest argument of some of those currently arguing for stem cell usage might change?

One wonders what angle Premier Bob Carr and 60 Minutes would adopt?

Even in the reverse scenario, the teaching of the Catholic Church would still be constant and universal, that we are all called to love God and to love our neighbour.

Bryan Doyle
Ambarvale NSW

SISTER MUM

Thank you for your very nice article on Sister Mums (Wife, then Widow – a Mother Called Sister, CW 24/3).

Your reporter (Marilyn Kerjean) went to a lot of trouble to get it all correct and make it sound really interesting.

I hope I get a good response from it.

Sr Frances Stibi
Perth, WA

HUMILITY

People who see only the superficial and keep God in the anteroom of their lives may not see why a saint who had God on the high altar of her life is so extraordinary.

We know St Thérèse of Lisieux served God in the ordinary things. Her greatness was in her ‘littleness’.

The Little Way of Spiritual Childhood is not about doing; it’s about being.

God does not need our works; he works through us, but only if we belong to him.

St Thérèse said: “I am only a little soul, a poor feeble child.”

That it took the Church so long to see this saint as a teacher of teachers could mean that God wants her to be the torchbearer of an age badly in need of humility.

The greatness of humility is the key to peace in relationships and in the world.

Mrs E Roche
Copacabana, NSW

EUTHANASIA TOURISM

There are fears that the new Dutch euthanasia laws will trigger a wave of “euthanasia tourism”.

Will they also trigger a (modest) wave of non-tourism by former Dutch citizens who decide not to go to the Netherlands for a holiday as they fear that, in case they become ill, they might finish up at the receiving end of an unsolicited one-way trip to the next world – compliments of some syringe-happy Dutch physician.

Henk Verhoeven
Beacon Hill, NSW

OLD AND THE NEW

John Kennedy and Dorothy Gallagher (Heart of the Mass and Grace of God, Letters, CW 24/3) – in response to V Gallagher (Liturgical Reform, Letters, CW 10/3) – champion the ‘new’ Mass and denigrate the old.

They speak of lay participation in the new Mass; silent on the fact that 80 per cent or more Catholics now ‘participate’ from their homes.

They are silent on the fact that school leavers are abandoning their religion up to the tune of 90 per cent.

If “Mass is now so devotional and meaningful” why did Pope John Paul see the need to apologise to the laity, on behalf of the bishops of the world, for the prevailing want of reverence to the Blessed Sacrament?

And why have tabernacles disappeared behind corners as they have in too many churches? Could it be that John and Dorothy have not heard of consecrated hosts being found on the floors of churches or, as in my observation, on the seat of a church?

If it “was only the grace of God that kept us going” under the old Mass, what happened to the grace of God when the alleged better Mass was introduced and Mass attendance fell from 65 per cent to under 20 per cent?

Your correspondents sneer at the Latin liturgy that a litany of popes vigorously defended.

The Latin could have been an obstacle to such Catholics as would invest £10 on a tennis racquet, but not £2 on a missal. Even they could use a small devotional book on the Mass.

John and Dorothy are silent on yet another fact, namely that the Mass of their liking was designed to meet the approval of Protestants. For that they have the word of Fr (later Archbishop) Bugnini, architect of the new Mass.

Stuart Blackwood
Ashgrove, Qld

PROUD AUSTRALIAN

You are so right, Stanley D’Cruz (Absurd Comparison, Letters, CW 17/3). We do not kill asylum seekers; we only put them behind razor wire in the desert, so that they are out of the way and out of sight.

Well, sir, it is obvious you speak without experience. I was in a camp, behind barbed wire. Many times we prayed for them to kill us; it would have been much kinder. After two years and eight months, I was lucky enough to escape. I had to cross two borders before I found a friendly country that would accept me.

Caritas was there to delouse me and clothe me. I spent four months in hospital being treated for TB, typhoid and malaria.

I came to Australia in 1950. 1 am a proud Australian and have 20 descendants, all born here – all proud Australians.

Remember the words of our Lord: “What you do unto the least of my brethren so you do unto me.” May the good Lord bless you.

R Vogel
Kempsey, NSW