By Cori Fugere Urban

Correspondent

The Catholic Observer, April 14, 2000, at p. 5.

SPRINGFIELD -- A Catholic initiative responding to the needs of the dying and to the threat of assisted suicide is gaining momentum in the Diocese of Springfield. As of early April, 64 parishes -- about half of the parishes in the four-county diocese -- had submitted the names of contact persons for the "In Support of Life" initiative.

Launched throughout Massachusetts last fall, the comprehensive, educational campaign seeks to educate Catholics and others about church teaching about life, particularly the life of the dying. It is sponsored by the Massachusetts Catholic Conference to help people understand Catholic teaching on caring for persons at the end of life.

An initial orientation for parish contact persons from the Diocese of Springfield took place in February at Mont Marie in Holyoke, drawing 31 parish contacts, seven diocesan facilitators and two diocesan representatives.

Sister of St. Joseph Catherine Homrock is the diocesan parish coordinator for the "In Support of Life" initiative. She said the campaign is particularly pertinent now in light of 1995 legislation in Oregon approving physician-assisted suicide, one of the issues addressed by the campaign. "There is a movement in Maine to have the issue brought to the legislature," she said, emphasizing the need to educate people about that and other death and dying issues before such legislation comes to the Bay State.

John Dryjowicz, a parish contact from St. Mary of the Assumption Church in Ludlow, said the Oregon legislation is an indication that "the devil is alive and well and doing a good job... spreading his evil."  He called the movement toward physician-assisted suicide a "slippery slope" which he contended will lead to further disrespect for life. "We (as a society) have very, very little regard for life, especially if a person is considered to be non-productive," he commented.

Therefore, he has gotten involved in the "In Support of Life" initiative to bring to the current "urgent situation" a return to a greater respect for life, he said.

Explaining why he has emphasized the campaign in his parish, Father Francis J. Manning, pastor of St. Mary of the Assumption Church in Ludlow, said, "My whole life has been dedicated to the sick and the dying."

He recalled the words of Father John R. Lucey, administrator of Blessed Sacrament Church in Holyoke when he was a young curate: "'One of the most important things you can do as a priest is visit the sick often,'" he recalled. "I never forgot it."

He said that people need to be educated about end-of-life issues so they can prevent legislation like that passed in Oregon. And, he added, alternatives must be offered to the dying -- such as the palliative care offered by hospice. "Hospice takes care of the physical, we have to take care of the spiritual needs of those who are dying."

The pastor was pleased with the response from his parishioners to the "In Support of Life" initiative so far: 189 turned in questionnaires with 71 expressing interest in attending future workshops; 33 volunteering to be active in the program and trained to bring spiritual consolation to the sick and dying.

Elinor Ranck, parish contact for St. Anne Church in Chicopee, said that some people advocate physician-assisted suicide for those who are suffering and dying. "We need to inform (people about) what's available (to treat pain and depression) so they don't have to go that route."

pringfieldSaid Diane Dryjowicz, one of the parish contacts for St. Mary of the Assumption Church in Ludlow: "I really believe that God is the only one who has the right to take a life. That's his decision when he wants us to go."

In an instructional video to be shown in parishes, Springfield Bishop Thomas L. Dupre asks, "How do we proclaim the Gospel of life in a culture of death that sees assisted suicide as a compassionate act?" He says there is confusion about the fundamental difference between allowing death and assisting it.

In the coming months, parishes in the diocese will be showing the video and conducting informational meetings about "In Support of Life" with experts available to address questions.

Sister of St. Joseph Betsy Sullivan, administrator of Mont Marie Health Care Center in Holyoke was scheduled to speak at the April 3 meeting at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish in Springfield, and on April 29 Dr. Donald Higby, deacon at St. Mary Parish in Longmeadow and head of oncology at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, is scheduled to speak at St. Thomas Church in Palmer.

"Death and dying is a topic that affects all people at some time," Sister Homrok said, adding that she hopes the initiative will not only educate people about death and dying issues but also motivate parishes to look at ways to reach out to and to help people who are dying and their families.