Press Releases
Autumn 2009 SEARCH Journal Now Available
Special Issue on Euthanasia and End of Life Issues
The Autumn 2009 edition of the Church of Ireland journal SEARCH (Volume Thirty Two, Number Three) is now available. It is a special issue on euthanasia and end of life issues, based on a Colloquium on Euthanasia and End of Life Issues which SEARCH co-hosted in June with Trinity College, Dublin. SEARCH Editor, the Revd K Virginia Kennerley, says, 'The subject is one that has repeatedly hit the headlines of late, with hard cases causing heated discussion in the British House of Lords (which finally came down against any change in the law) and much more cautious discussion in Irish circles – the Law Reform Commission and the Church of Ireland’s Medical Ethics Working Group, to name but two.'
The journal includes contributions on: Legalising Euthanasia? by Robin Gill (Michael Ramsey Professor of Modern Theology at the University of Kent); A Christian Case for Change by Paul Badham (Professor of Theology and Religious Studies at University of Wales at Lampeter); From a European Perspective by Maureen Junker Kenny (Associate Professor of Theology at Trinity College, Dublin); A Gerontologist looks at the Issues by Desmond O’Neill (Associate Professor of Gerontology at TCD and Director of the Centre for Ageing, Neurosciences and the Humanities, Adelaide and Meath Hospital, Dublin); and The Law in Ireland by Ivana Bacik (Reid Professor of Criminal Law, Criminology and Penology at Trinity College, Dublin). The new edition also includes articles on 100 Years of the NUI from Darren McCallig (Dean of Residence and Church of Ireland chaplain at Trinity College, Dublin); Prayer and Lament in the Psalms from Margaret Daly-Denton (biblical scholar and liturgist, teaching on the Associate Faculty of the Priory Institute in Tallaght, Dublin and at the Columban Ecological Institute in Dalgan, Co Meath); and book reviews.
Virginia Kennerley writes in her editorial: 'Professor Paul Badham of Lampeter was an obvious choice as our leading speaker, since his plea for availability of a narrowly defined type of euthanasia had recently been published under the title "Is there a Christian Case for Assisted Dying?" Badham is unusual among theologians in making this plea; for although a majority of churchgoers, in the UK at least, appear to be in favour of some form of euthanasia, Christian academics are generally against it. Professor Robin Gill of the University of Kent, who introduces this issue, is a prominent spokesman for them, presenting a carefully reasoned consideration of the borderlines between euthanasia (which may be voluntary or involuntary), assisted dying and withdrawal of profitless medical intervention.'
She continues, 'In response to Paul Badham’s deeply felt plea that the terminally ill be allowed to “die with dignity”, Prof Maureen Junker-Kenny, of TCD’s theology faculty, argued vigorously for the inherent and transcendental dignity of every human life, however useless or intolerable that life might appear, and noted recent European debate and directives in this area. Prof Desmond O Neill, of Tallaght Hospital and TCD demonstrated passionate commitment to the care of elderly patients; but passion, he points out, is useless without competence. There would be no call for physician-assisted suicide if those caring for the terminally ill were trained and enabled to give appropriate care. Prof Ivana Bacik concludes the discussion with a survey of Irish law in this area.'
SEARCH is produced by an editorial committee chaired by the Revd Canon Professor John Bartlett and published by the Association for Promoting Christian Knowledge. Annual subscription for 2010: €22.00 / £19.00 (Student rate €11.00). Subscription includes postage and packing within Ireland. Add €8 / £6 to rest of the world. Payments and queries about subscriptions and distribution should be addressed to the Very Revd Stephen R.White, The Deanery, Killaloe, Co.Clare, email: [email protected]. For further details see www.searchjournal.ireland.anglican.org. Single copies are also available through the Good Bookshop at Church of Ireland House, Belfast, Best Sellers, Dawson Street, Dublin, and the Resource Centre, Rathmines, Dublin 6.
ENDS