Education and Health Communique #5
Submitted by: Jeanne Wilson
New chairs
Welcome to Anna May from Kamloops Diocese, Carmen from Prince George diocese and Johanna from Vancouver diocese who are now education and health chairs and join Deanne from Victoria diocese and Mary from Nelson diocese. Please remember to send me and the other education and health chairs copies of the communiqués that you are sending out to the parish councils.
Palliative Care
At the National Convention in St. Johns Nfld, Fr. Mark Miller gave an excellent talk on palliative care and end of live issues.
The Catholic Health Association of Saskatchewan have produced a two-part DVD series with Fr. Mark Miller, entitled” Ethics for the Journey” which explore foundational teachings for faith-based care and for the ministry of care in our parish communities.
The DVD contains the material covered at the convention and can be used at parish meetings. The DVDs can be purchased through the Catholic Health Association of Saskatchewan website at www.chassk.ca.
I have a copy of Session 1 and Session II and I am willing to lend them to a council that wishes to show them. Also, the Catholic Health Association of BC has a copy and will loan them to individuals and groups who wish to borrow them at website www.chabc.bc.ca.
Catholic Health Association of BC
The CHABC will be holding their annual general meeting and conference on September 17th. The theme this year is Nurturing a Living Mission in Today’s Health Care Culture. Registration deadline is September 10th. I have attached information re this conference. If any education and health chair can attend, please let me know.
Catholic Health Association of Canada
The CHAC held their annual convention in April. A DVD with the keynote addresses- one from Dr. Margaret Somerville and one from Michael Panicola is available from Catholic Health Alliance of Canada at their website www.chac.ca. Cecile Miller, National Chair of Education and Health, has highly recommended this DVD.
Genetics
Cutting Through the Spin by Father Tadeusz Pascholczyk
This DVD was shown at the Provincial convention. The DVD deals with stem cell research and cloning. This DVD can be ordered from the National Catholic Bioethics Center in Philadelphia website www.ncbcenter.org/stemcell.asp.
Please remember when viewing this DVD that the laws re stem cell research and cloning that are presented pertain to the United States and not Canada.
High-Tech Babies Exploring New Challenges to Human Dignity is a new brochure from the Canadian Organization for Life and Family and can be ordered from www.colf.ca.
COLF has excellent, inexpensive brochures that can be used at the parish level to educate our members.
Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide- Urgent Questions and Living, Suffering and Dying… what for are excellent brochures from COLF to use when informing our sisters regarding questions around euthanasia and assisted suicide.
I also have the DVD, Turning the Tide, Dignity, Compassion and Euthanasia that is available for any council that wishes to borrow it.
Education
Every Education and Health chair should request, from the Department of Education, to be put on their curriculum updates email and should monitor what curriculum is being introduced or revisions made to existing curriculum. You can do this by contacting the Department of Education at www.bced.gov.bc.ca
At the National convention, standing chairs hosted lunches. Cecile Miller, National Chair of Education and Health asked for concerns. One brought up by Ontario was regarding losing funding for Catholic schools. This was an issue in 2007 Ontario Provincial election and is sure to surface again. In Yukon, our Catholic schools are fully funded by the Territorial government; it is the reason that the Yukon is not part of BC. However, we always have to vigilant that what happens in another part of Canada does not take away the rights in another part.
Catholic Civil Rights League
At the Provincial Convention, Mr. Sean Murphy spoke to us on Protection of Conscience/Religious Freedom. Mr. Murphy is the Western Region, Regional Director of the Catholic Civil Rights League.
The Catholic Civil Rights League is a national lay Catholic organization committed to:
promoting ongoing dialogue with the media to secure a fair hearing for Catholic positions on issues of public debate; lobbying government and intervening in court challenges in support of law and policy compatible with a Catholic understanding of human nature and the common good and countering anti-Catholic defamation.
Their website is http://www.ccrl.ca
May Our Lady of Good Counsel keep you close.
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