We need to educate ourselves about the kinds of care which foster death with genuine dignity. We need to insist on the availability of hospice care and palliative care to everyone, whatever their social or economic circumstances. This advocacy is the Work of Mercy to which all people of faith are called, whether or not we are called to be at the bedside. Let us be about this work of transforming the social order so that death with real dignity becomes a fundamental right for all people. Let us learn together.
Good material is available to guide our learning about matters of life and death.
None of this is easy, but the most important things in life rarely are easy. Tell me about your questions, your concerns, your different views as you read what I write here. I look forward to hearing from you. It would be presumptuous of me to tell you what to do inside the voting booth. But , it would be irresponsible of me to avoid sharing with you, as your Bishop and Chief Pastor, the received wisdom of our tradition which calls us to be Workers of Mercy, in both the church and the public sphere.