BRITAIN: A number of leading Church of Ireland bishops yesterday added their voices to calls for an "informed debate" on mercy killing of terminally ill patients.
The chief adviser to the Archbishop of Canterbury in England, Canon Professor Robin Gill, said yesterday that people should not be prosecuted for helping dying relatives who are in pain end their lives. "There is a very strong compassionate case for voluntary euthanasia. In certain cases, such as that which involved Diane Pretty [the woman who was terminally ill with motor neurone disease and who campaigned for the right to be helped to die], there is an overwhelming case for it," he said in the Observer newspaper.
The Bishop of Cashel and Ossory, the Right Rev Peter Barrett, yesterday told The Irish Times: "It is clear that compassion must play a part in how this issue is handled. I would be in favour of a well-informed debate on the issue, with all competent authorities." The Archbishop of Dublin, the Most Rev John Neill, said: "I would be fully supportive of any debate, as we are as a church in general." The Bishop of Tuam, the Right Rev Richard Henderson, said: "It is clear that compassion and law are presently in conflict."
