Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Catholic News

Home

Home
Catholic
Religion News
In Tulsa’s diocese, no one is turned away from end-of-life care

In Tulsa’s diocese, no one is turned away from end-of-life care

Last updated on: March 21, 2016 at 10:02 pm by CNA Daily News

In Tulsa’s diocese, no one is turned away from end-of-life care 2016-03-21T22:02:00+00:00 CNA Daily News

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Rome, Italy, Mar 21, 2016 / 04:02 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The latest initiative of the Tulsa, Oklahoma diocese is not only offering practical care for the region's homeless and under-privileged communities – it's bringing a message of hope in the face of death.

“Just because you're dying doesn't mean there's no reason to hope,” Bishop Edward James Slattery of Tulsa told journalists March 21 during a visit to Rome.

“Just the opposite. Christ has changed the meaning of death to the entrance into life.”

Porta Caeli – Latin for “door to heaven” – is a diocese-run hospice center people can receive end-of-life care consistent with the Catholic understanding of human dignity and the afterlife, regardless of race, illness, or financial status. The center will host up to twelve terminally ill residents at any given time, with 200-400 people expected annually. Those admitted to the center are expected to die within a matter of days or weeks.

“What's valuable to this is that it sends messages to the entire diocese that it's okay to die,” Bishop Slattery said. “We're all going to die. And stop pretending that you're not.”

The Tulsa bishop expressed his desire for parishioners to be personally involved in the initiative, helping console the dying and their loved ones, while trying “to show them that what’s awaiting them is heaven: To be in the company of God for all eternity.”

“Their own faith then will be strengthened,” he said.

Bishop Slattery explained that Porta Caeli is unique in that it does permit interventions to end life prematurely, nor does it encourage artificially extending life beyond what is necessary.

Praising modern medicine and technology as a “gift from God,” he said some procedures are nonetheless “contrary to Catholic teaching, and are of not service but are detrimental to the good of humanity.”

The bishop cited the example of giving a terminally ill patient pain a higher dose of pain medication with the intention of speeding the dying process.

“That is really not letting the person die a natural death. It’s really, in effect, killing them,” he said. “Let God decide when you die. He knows when you should, and then he will take you to himself.”

Assisted suicide for terminally ill patients is currently legal in eight U.S. States, although Oklahoma is not one of them.

Bishop Slattery also addressed the other extreme, seen in the effort to keep someone alive artificially when they have the “right to die.”

Speaking of family and loved ones of the patient, he said “maybe they don't believe with real strong faith in life eternal and what’s in store, so they want to keep their loved one alive as long as possible – even though the person will never wake up.”

In situations where there is no chance of recovery, he said, it is best to allow the terminally ill person to “die in piece,” give them medication, and pray with them “if they’re awake or alert.”

The Porta Caeli center is a carry over from another Tulsa diocese initiative called the St. Joseph's home, a hospice established decades earlier to minister to those dying during the AIDS crisis.

We “invited people who had AIDS and who were dying to come and die with us, because they would otherwise be out on the street,” he said.

When medications became available to lower the mortality rate of AIDS, St. Joseph's could not continue serving the needs of people with the disease. This led to the decision to reestablish the hospice to cater to anyone suffering from a terminal illness.

Porta Caeli is an initiative of the Tulsa diocese's non-government funded Catholic Charities branch. Bishop Slattery explained this presence is important in that it is distinguished from a simply humanitarian entity.

“What I think our witness is to the Gospel is that we always unify the Eucharist with works of charity, so that no one will perceive what we do as purely humanitarian,” he said. This is “because we do things with faith, which means we are really just agents of Jesus Christ.”

Photo credit: www.shutterstock.com.

Europe

Previous Post

March 21, 2016

Pope prays for victims of Russian plane crash, Istanbul bombing

Next Post

March 21, 2016 How can the Catholic Church help Burma's transition to democracy?

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Americas Asia - Pacific Europe Middle East - Africa Uncategorized US Vatican

Select a Month November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

True or False: James states that the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity.

Select your answer to see how you score.

TRUE FALSE