Catholic Women’s League of Canada | BC and Yukon Council

Submitted by: Jeanne Wilson

Dear League Sisters and Father Tran,

December is here and Advent has begun. Let us remember the birth of Jesus as recorded in the Gospel of St. Luke. So Joseph set out from the town of Nazareth in Galilee and traveled up to Judaea, to the town of David call Bethlehem in order to be registered together with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.  While they were there the time came for her to have her child and she gave birth to a son, her first-born. She wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger because there was no room for them at the inn. How difficult it must have been for Mary -  no hospital, no family only Joseph to help her with the birth.

Let us be thankful for Mary accepting to be Jesus’ mother, for family and health care.

Thank you to the education and health chairs who have sent me their communiqués.  Keep up the good work.  Education and Health is a big chair – lots of action in both areas.Try to keep up to date as best you can.

Education

I wish to thank Sharon C., for attending the Take Back the School Seminar, taking notes and sending me information on BC Parents and Teachers for Life.

The Corren Agreement was back in the news. 

I contacted Nancy Simms, former Education and Health chair, regarding what the CWL had done last year when the Corren agreement was signed and her response was that four members of the CWL provincial executive had met with Mr. Gilbert.  He had listened intently to our concerns and was interested in the concerns of the CWL.  He spent approximately 90 minutes talking with us.  He explained to us that the agreement with the Correns did not necessarily give them any more rights than any of the rest of us.  The CWL is now on the same mailing list as the Correns and every member of the League should have by now been informed of the website where each of us can give our input to the curriculum. 

Sharon brought back some good recommendations from the workshop.  The recommendations are not new.  The recommendations contain suggestion that a parent does if their child is in school or in any organization:

• Be involved in schools – ask questions talk to teachers
• Give children information with Christian influence – live your faith
• Help children to think critically on information that is given to them
• Teach your children to analyze events and other peoples view points
• Encourage your children to be involved in Christian clubs
• Encourage children to think and speak out
• Pray

I encourage all CWL members to connect to the Department of Education’s Website at www.bced.gov.bc.ca and monitor what new curriculum is being developed and what changes are being made to existing curriculum. 

MaterCare

I have mailed out DVDs and material regarding Matercare to each diocesan health and education chair.  I have also forwarded a press release from MaterCare regarding conscientious objections of doctors and health care professionals.  I contacted Catholic Health Association of BC and have received material titled Freedom of Conscience under Attack for Physicians and will attach it with this communiqué.

Euthanasia

Euthanasia is back in the news after the American election and Washington State, BC’s neighbour, voting in favour physician assisted suicides. Cecile Miller sent out the results of a Canadian poll that showed that 51% of respondents would choose palliative care and 36% would choose euthanasia. Research shows that good palliative care can reduce the demand for “mercy killing”.

The Whitehorse Diocesan CWL took Resolution 2007.03 on palliative care to the Yukon Minister of Health and Social Services.  Yukon does not have formal palliative care, however the Yukon health system does provide palliative care to patients nearing their end of life and future plans are for palliative care beds at the Whitehorse General Hospital.  When discussing the need for palliative care and why it was important and the fact that good palliative care reduces the requests for “mercy killing” the minister informed me that that was a personal choice.  I left the Minister with a copy of A Catholic Guide to End-of Life Decisions from the National Catholic Bioethics Center www.ncbcenter.org. available on line.

In an update from the Euthanasis Prevention Coalition, Alex Schadenberg reports that Francine Lalonde is intending to bring forth a private members bill to legalize euthanasia and assisted suicide in Canada.  In the private members bill lottery, she received #42, meaning that if parliament survives, her bill will come up sometime in April.

May everyone have a blessed and joyful Christmas.