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T
tseleehw
Guest
It is good that the Vatican is stepping in, but it is disturbing that such a policy was even considered in the first place.
P
pepipop
Guest
It was a decision taken by the lay members on the board. Probably the only way forward, so as to reverse the decision, as I ‘assume’ if the Catholic status is removed from their hospitals, so will their ‘salaries’. 
catholicherald.co.uk/news/2017/05/04/belgian-religious-order-to-allow-euthanasia-for-mentally-ill-patients/
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Brother René Stockman, the superior general, has distanced himself from the decision of the group’s largely lay board of directors, however, and has told Belgian media that the policy was a tragedy.
“We cannot accept that euthanasia is carried out within the walls of our institutions,” said Brother Stockman, a specialist in psychiatric care, in an April 27 interview with De Morgen newspaper in Brussels.
He told the newspaper that he intended to raise the matter with Catholic authorities in Rome and with the Belgian bishops.*
catholicherald.co.uk/news/2017/05/04/belgian-religious-order-to-allow-euthanasia-for-mentally-ill-patients/
*
Brother René Stockman, the superior general, has distanced himself from the decision of the group’s largely lay board of directors, however, and has told Belgian media that the policy was a tragedy.
“We cannot accept that euthanasia is carried out within the walls of our institutions,” said Brother Stockman, a specialist in psychiatric care, in an April 27 interview with De Morgen newspaper in Brussels.
He told the newspaper that he intended to raise the matter with Catholic authorities in Rome and with the Belgian bishops.*
C
commenter
Guest
It is disturbing that the bishops of Belgium did not, themselves, intervene much earlier in the process. Whenever some big atrocity almost comes through, you can bet there were lots of little atrocities that did get through, with barely a whimper of opposition.
For another thing, why would the religious superior feel the need to formally seek assurance, now, that the members of his order accept Catholic teaching on this topic? If there were any doubts about some of the members why are they still members of his order at all?
Um…what **does **the overall Superior General, provincial, or local superior do, anyway? It seems, not much.
I would start asking what other aspects of Catholic Faith the members might not believe.
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tseleehw
Guest
I agree 100%. According to the article, the hospital board is made up of mostly lay people, which may explain the apathy towards the euthanasia policy. But as you say, the apparent silence and inaction of the Belgian bishops is most concerning. Could they have not handled this issue locally, without it having to go all the way to the Vatican?
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jeannetherese
Guest
The O.P. link draws from an article in the Catholic Herald which offers much more information, including mention of actions taken by the bishops (and by Cardinal Muller).
catholicherald.co.uk/news/2017/08/09/pope-orders-belgian-brothers-of-charity-to-stop-euthanasia/
From that article:
"Brother Stockman, a psychiatric care specialist, had turned to the Vatican in the spring after the Brothers of Charity group rejected a formal request from him to reverse the new policy.
The group also snubbed the Belgian bishops by formally implementing its euthanasia policy in June, just weeks after the bishops declared they would not accept euthanasia in Catholic institutions.
The group has also ignored a statement of church teaching forbidding euthanasia. The statement, written and signed by Cardinal Gerhard Muller, former head of the doctrinal congregation, was sent to the Brothers of Charity Group members. A copy of the document has been obtained Catholic News Service."
C
commenter
Guest
Thank you for the additional clarification. What often happens is that the current bishop, or the current Superior, gets blamed for situations resulting from neglect of their predecessors.
Even if the boards are mostly made up of laity, still if the hospitals are identified as a ministry of the religious order, that order is responsible for finding lay directors who are in agreement with Catholic teaching. The Brothers obviously failed to do that.
We can’t blame the current bishops and brothers for the neglect of their predecessors, but the Church can hold them responsible if they fail to take aggressive action now. Institutions should be forced to either conform fully with the Catholic Faith, or drop any institutional reference to the Church or to the Brothers.
We have this problem in the USA, with health care but even more with colleges. Local colleges advertise as Jesuit, or Franciscan, even if they are not remotely Catholic. (The “Jesuit” college even tells students that they are Jesuit, but not Catholic). The current bishops in the US or Belgium are not responsible with causing this problem, but they are to blame if they fail to get the names of religious orders taken off these places.
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jeannetherese
Guest
The Catholic Herald article also notes:
"Brother Rene Stockman, superior general of the order, told Catholic News Service the Pope gave his personal approval to a Vatican demand that the Brothers of Charity, which runs 15 centres for psychiatric patients across Belgium, must reverse its policy by the end of August.
Brothers who serve on the board of the Brothers of Charity Group, the organization that runs the centers, also must each sign a joint letter to their superior general declaring that they “fully support the vision of the magisterium of the Catholic Church, which has always confirmed that human life must be respected and protected in absolute terms, from the moment of conception till its natural end.”
Brothers who refuse to sign will face sanctions under canon law, while the group can expect to face legal action and even expulsion from the church if it fails to change its policy."
"Brother Rene Stockman, superior general of the order, told Catholic News Service the Pope gave his personal approval to a Vatican demand that the Brothers of Charity, which runs 15 centres for psychiatric patients across Belgium, must reverse its policy by the end of August.
Brothers who serve on the board of the Brothers of Charity Group, the organization that runs the centers, also must each sign a joint letter to their superior general declaring that they “fully support the vision of the magisterium of the Catholic Church, which has always confirmed that human life must be respected and protected in absolute terms, from the moment of conception till its natural end.”
Brothers who refuse to sign will face sanctions under canon law, while the group can expect to face legal action and even expulsion from the church if it fails to change its policy."
C
commenter
Guest
Would you stay in the same house with a spouse, where circumstances require you had to have the spouse sign a statement not to punch you anymore? Even if they sign it, would you still consider this a nurturing relationship?
Unless a fair number of brothers leave religious life altogether, this is worthless, and the order is no longer viable. History has shown religious and laypersons will sign statements assenting to acceptance of Church teaching, then interpret that assent in their own unique way. So they don’t really assent.
F
FirstFiveEighth
Guest
Good. I was going to say,surely they can just fire these people. It doesn’t make sense to me how little enforcement the church seems to have over affiliated institutions. If you can’t get rid of people who refuse to adhere to your standards, then you have no authority over them at all.
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jeannetherese
Guest
The Herald article does speak to the willingness to sanction behavior which does not conform to the Magisterium.
The O.P. links to a news source which tends to summarize and/or simplify other news sources and this tendency may create confusion for readers.
If readers scroll to the bottom of the link, they will find the sourced articles which provide much additional information.
catholicherald.co.uk/news/2017/08/09/pope-orders-belgian-brothers-of-charity-to-stop-euthanasia/
According to the Herald, the Pope is involved, the Papal nuncio, bishops, Cardinal Mueller, and various borthers; this issue is not off the radar and it is being addressed. Perhaps, it will encourage others to uphold the Magisterium.
May God grant that it be so.
Amen.
jt
The O.P. links to a news source which tends to summarize and/or simplify other news sources and this tendency may create confusion for readers.
If readers scroll to the bottom of the link, they will find the sourced articles which provide much additional information.
catholicherald.co.uk/news/2017/08/09/pope-orders-belgian-brothers-of-charity-to-stop-euthanasia/
According to the Herald, the Pope is involved, the Papal nuncio, bishops, Cardinal Mueller, and various borthers; this issue is not off the radar and it is being addressed. Perhaps, it will encourage others to uphold the Magisterium.
May God grant that it be so.
Amen.
jt
C
commenter
Guest
Well if you try to fire people, they likely are unionized, and/or have job protection rights through their government authority. If you try to fire them, on the basis of not following Catholic teaching, it would be hard. They likely will point out the long trail of earlier decisions that do not agree with Catholic teaching, that the Church was silent about; this means the Church is now trying to change the rules in the middle of the game.
If the people you are trying to fire are religious brothers, they have additional job protections under Canon Law. The same thing applies as with the laity. You may be talking about giving them a golden parachute to give up their job. Instead of trying to claim there are 15 Catholic hospitals in this system, it would be better, more honest, to concentrate on identifying **one **hospital as the Catholic Hospital. Then let those brothers and laity who genuinely want a Catholic environment to transfer to that hospital. Pull the Catholic label - and the “Brothers” label - off the others.
It does enormous damage to the Church when a diocese, or religious order, keeps the Catholic or religious order label on institutions after they are essentially secularized.
If almost all the existing brothers are allowed to remain as members of that religious order, by signing some little statement, I would urge laity to boycott that religious order, not only in Belgium but elsewhere, like Philadelphia. If a substantial number leave the order now, then let’s give the order a second chance.
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