Authority over death belongs to God alone, Church of England leader warns
The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill cleared the House of Commons last month in a historic vote, bringing assisted dying closer to becoming law in England and Wales.
It has now moved to the House of Lords where it will undergo further debate and scrutiny.
In the immediate aftermath of the June vote, Bishop of London Dame Sarah Mullally, who sits in the House of Lords, said peers 'must oppose' the Bill when it reaches them due to the 'mounting evidence that it is unworkable and unsafe'.
She is among those opposed who have called for more work to improve funding and access to 'desperately needed' palliative care services instead.
Bishop of London Sarah Mullally said peers 'must oppose' the Bill when it reaches them (PA)
Addressing the Church of England General Synod – also known as the Church's parliament – on Friday, Mr Cottrell voiced his staunch opposition to the Bill.
He said there was a 'compelling narrative of what it means to be human – and in all our glorious diversity, made in the image of God, and living Jesus-shaped lives – that will enable us to withstand, and even turn back, those utilitarian tides of opinion that risk making, for instance, assisted dying a reality in our national life, changing forever the contract between doctor and patient, pressurising the vulnerable, and assuming an authority over death that belongs to God alone'.
Mr Cottrell – who is the temporary leading religious voice of the Church while the appointment of a new Archbishop of Canterbury is awaited – thanked Dame Sarah and 'other Lords Spiritual for their principled and persistent opposition to the assisted dying Bill in Parliament'.
It is expected Synod members will engage in a debate on assisted dying during this five-day session.
Making the case for assisted dying ahead of last month's vote, a terminally ill Christian preacher criticised the 'nonsensical' religious argument against assisted dying that suffering must be part of life.
Church of England lay preacher Pamela Fisher, who is terminally ill with cancer, made an impassioned speech against the religious arguments made by some who oppose assisted dying.
Pamela Fisher, a Church of England lay preacher, has argued in favour of assisted dying (Jonathan Brady/PA)
Speaking to reporters in June, she said: 'I completely reject the assumption that the sanctity of life requires terminally ill people to undergo a distressing and painful death against their will.
'I disagree with those that say it is God alone who decides how and when we die.
'Yes, life is a gift from God to be honoured but it's nonsensical to say that assisted dying is wrong because suffering is part of God's plan for us.'
The proposed legislation would allow terminally ill adults in England and Wales, with fewer than six months to live, to apply for an assisted death, subject to approval by two doctors and a panel featuring a social worker, senior legal figure and psychiatrist.
Elsewhere in his opening address to Synod, Mr Cottrell acknowledged, in an apparent reference to controversy around the handling of abuse scandals over the years, that the Church of England had been 'humbled' of late.
He said: 'God has humbled us in so many ways this year.
'It has not been easy, but if it has made us more penitent, more determined to put victims and survivors first, more resolved to sort out all sorts of things to do with clergy discipline and accountability, terms of service, independent safeguarding, and other things besides, then, Synod, God the Redeemer, who believes in his Church, is at work among us.'
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BBC News
15 hours ago
- BBC News
Church abuse victim stages quiet protest at General Synod
Jenny Read says she was abused as a little girl at a church in the north-east of England. Last week she protested outside a meeting of the Church of England's parliament as it signed off on a compensation scheme for abuse victims, which she says is too little, too late. It is 07:30 BST on a grey, humid July morning in city is hosting General Synod - the Church of England's parliament - which is about to approve the landmark compensation Read, who travelled from her north-east of England home because she "had to be here", has already set up says, as a child, she was "sadistically" abused over a number of years at her local church by her own father, and also by a male curate and a female church adulthood, she and her sisters, who also say they were abused as children by the same people, reported the allegations to the Church of England three times, but it never launched a formal investigation. Ms Read is at General Synod to protest. But she is not blocking traffic, nor is she chanting or shouting into a megaphone. She is sitting peacefully in a camping chair opposite Central Hall, where the event is being held, drinking a cup of tea and eating a is quiet, but she no longer feels silenced and her presence is her stands a banner she has made. In big red, black and green letters it reads: "Three sisters sadistically abused at a NE church still waiting for justice." Ms Read's appearance in the shadow of the chamber housing the most powerful figures in the Church of England is the day members of the public, bishops, clergymen and clergywomen approach her to ask what her story is. Some take over food and Read says she is here to tell Church leaders that there is an "urgent need" to treat people who report abuse allegations with kindness because "that hasn't been our experience".Her fight for answers has been re-traumatising, she says, but she has waived her right to anonymity in order to share her may have passed but the mental anguish caused by the abuse and the alleged "fobbing off" from Church leaders has not, she a face-to-face meeting with her in May, Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell, the interim leader of the Church, offered an "unequivocal apology" for the abuse she had experienced and "recognised that it will have affected her life in many ways".Last month, following a BBC investigation which revealed the Read sisters' story, the Church of England also said it was "truly sorry" for the response they received when they made their initial reports. 'Survivor focused' compensation The Church has put aside £150m for what it is calling the Redress Scheme, to which any victim of Church-related abuse can apply. It was agreed by General Synod, but still needs to be officially signed off by the Church says the scheme is "survivor focused" and "offers more than money".As well as financial compensation, which can range from £5,000 to £660,000, survivors and victims can also receive "a formal apology, acknowledgment, therapeutic support, and other forms of bespoke redress", it can be made via a designated website and "independently assessed by trained assessors" who will consider the type of abuse, aggravating factors and the impact on the victim, it will then decide the level of compensation and support given."This is about the Church facing its past failures with honesty and humility," it says. The Right Reverend Philip Mounstephen, who chairs the Church's Redress Board, says it is "a matter of great shame" that the scheme is needed. He has previously said it was unclear how many people would apply."I am confident the scheme will provide much needed redress to survivors," he says, adding it will be "bespoke" for each scheme has already been delayed by several years and, for Ms Read, it is too has already "spent so many hours and months" in therapy and does not want to "spend any more of my remaining years trekking to therapists", she says."Even if I got the highest award possible, that doesn't compensate for my trauma."Ms Read has been diagnosed with depression and post-traumatic stress disorder linked to her childhood abuse which has, at times, plagued her adult relationships have been affected and she has only ever been able to work part has panic attacks in religious buildings which make her feel "terrorised" to the point she "has to scream" and get out. Episodes of feeling suicidal mean she "has struggled to survive" on occasions. "Redress sounds good but, from past experience, I can't quite believe it," Ms Read says."It's really urgent to highlight the need for the Church to get safeguarding right, not just on paper but in actions."Her silent protest brought some closure and, after decades of her feeling dismissed, people have eventually listened, she says."I feel like my voice has finally been heard. I can now move on with the rest of my life." Follow BBC North East on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
The Herald Scotland
16 hours ago
- The Herald Scotland
Does anyone believe Starmer will grow a spine like Macron has?
Doug Maughan, Dunblane. In the name of God, go There have been many disturbing and distressing scenes in Gaza showing the effects of the profound upheaval on the people endeavouring to eke out an existence there. One would have to have a heart of stone not to be moved by these scenes, particularly those involving women and children. A scene which particularly moved me recently was of a young mother, ill in bed in hospital, saying goodbye to her young daughter, who had already been made ready for her funeral. I am reminded of the words of Oliver Cromwell to the Rump Parliament and later used by Leo Amery to Neville Chamberlain: "In the name of God go." Today I would direct these words to all those responsible for the inhumanity and cruelty being inflicted upon the ill-used people of Gaza. Ian W Thomson, Lenzie. • Just last week, we heard about the gargantuan efforts of mostly working-class musicians, led by the incredibly tenacious Bob Geldof to help people, thousands of miles away, who were starving. All it took was a broadcast by Michael Buerk to make Bob spring into action. With the undoubted help of Midge Ure, they saved thousands of lives. We found out recently that even the normally hard-hearted Tory government contributed. Today, we know that people are being deliberately starved by a so-called democracy by the name of Israel. The governments of the world, with a few exceptions, are allowing this to happen. Shame on them. It is being left, once again, to the people to point out how very wrong this is. Be in no doubt, these are crimes against God and humanity. Jane Porteous, Kinross. The West is complicit In your recent article '[[Israel]] strikes kill at least 20 in [[Gaza]] as Lammy threatens more sanctions' (The Herald, July 23) the Foreign Secretary is quoted as saying he is 'appalled and sickened by [[Israel]]'s actions in [[Gaza]]'. I suggest that Israel's actions with regard to its treatment of the Palestinians will go down in history as an extreme example of the inhumanity of which we as a species are capable. Being halfway through the third decade of the 21st century, we apparently have made little progress in our 'moral evolution'. I wish to pass on some sentences from an article by Rabbi Noa Sattath, Executive Director of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel which I read in the liberal/left Israeli newspaper Haaretz (July 22): 'Israelis forget that human beings live in Gaza. If people aren't human beings, they can be starved, beaten and raped. We need to extricate ourselves from the moral abyss into which we have tumbled.' I suggest that the 'we' referred to in the immediately previous paragraph is not just the Israeli government but those countries in the West which have aided and abetted Benjamim Netanyahu in his genocide. One way of our making reparations to the Palestinians would be for the UK to take the lead in working towards the implementation of the two-state solution. John Milne, Uddingston. Read more letters Other dates to remember Disturbingly, much of our media continue to imply that the current conflict in Gaza had its origin on October 7, 2023. Along with "9/11" the date is a shorthand for attacks in which Americans and Israelis died. I challenge you to tell me what September 16 or April 13 or April 9 represent. Significantly, few of your readers will know but it is your duty to remind them of these dates. On April 9, 1948 the Palestinian village of Deir Yassin was attacked by the Irgun and other Zionist terrorists and 107 civilians killed. The rest were driven out in this early attempt at ethnic cleansing. On September 16, 1982 the refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila in Lebanon were attacked by Lebanese fascists, assisted by Israeli forces and between 1,500 and 2,000 men, women and children were massacred. On April 13, 1996 Israeli aircraft attacked a village in South Lebanon, Mansouri, after ordering the inhabitants to evacuate. The volunteer ambulance driver packed his own family and his neighbours into the ambulance to flee. The ambulance was rocketed, with the death of all it occupants except the driver. I could go on. The list is endless. So you see that this horror did not begin on October 7, 2023 and, for the Palestinians, it continues and is likely to do so until they are eliminated. Our press could do the right thing and commemorate these anniversaries. unless it is only the lives of Americans and Israelis that matter. I beg you to do so. David Currie, Tarland. But why Troon? Feeling sympathy for the poor residents of Prestwick and Turnberry, we didn't expect that The Donald's visit to Ayrshire would bother us. We were wrong. Our usual walk through Troon this morning (July 25), past Donald Crescent incidentally, was blocked by police, who have set up camp at the local high school, necessitating a detour round its perimeter. Is nowhere immune to the disruption he causes? David Bruce, Troon. 1,000 years? So what? I agree that "we must focus on nuclear" (Letters, July 24) because the closer we look, the more obvious it is to see what a dangerous pig in a poke it is. Your correspondent Peter Wright claims that discarded turbine blades cannot be sent to landfill – and in the next line, tells us that in the USA they are buried. He states that we are a clever species who will be able to reduce the half-life of toxic nuclear waste but he believes that we are incapable of ever recycling turbine blades. He, rightly, points out that concrete bases for turbines produce a lot of CO2 but omits to highlight the megatons of concrete required to build a nuclear power station and even more for waste storage. He tells us that Hitachi is experimenting with a reactor that might be able to reduce the half-life of nuclear waste from 30,000 years to a mere 1,000. I wonder if he can name an institute, government, empire or supervisory body that has ever survived that long, or more importantly, one in the future that could monitor the safe storage for that length of time and even less likely, one to provide that service for the waste we have already produced, with a 30,000 year half-life. David Hay, Minard. A truly sad loss I was truly saddened to hear of the passing of Sir Jamie McGrigor ("Tributes to 'kind and dedicated' former Tory MSP McGrigor who has died at 75", The Herald, July 23). Jamie devoted so much of his life to public service – first as an MSP and later as a councillor for Argyll and Bute. But more than his titles or years of service, it was the way he carried himself that left a lasting impression on so many of us. Thoughtful, kind, and principled, Jamie was someone who brought both wisdom and compassion to everything he did. I had the real honour of working alongside him on Argyll and Bute Council. He was never interested in attention or praise – he simply got on with the job and always kept the people he served at the heart of every decision. In a world where politics can often feel cynical or performative, Jamie was the real thing: steady, sincere, and deeply committed to making life better for others. He will be missed – not just as a public figure, but as a colleague and a good man. My thoughts and prayers are with his family, his friends, and all those across our community who had the privilege of knowing him. Rest in peace, Sir Jamie. Thank you for your service. Councillor Alastair Redman, Kintyre and the Islands ward, Islay. It's economics, not misogyny The lack of common sense, relativity and any basic understanding of how sponsors choose to invest their cash creates a spurious argument about gender injustice ("Fresh funding boost to resolve gender 'injustice' in Scottish golf", The Herald, July 24). All sports sponsorship is based on the value of brand exposure via the media and TV in particular. The whole assessment is based on viewing figures. Gender has nothing to with it. Indeed, the separation of male and female sports is, in itself, based on the belief that female sportswoman would struggle very badly to survive in any male version of a sport. Women's golf has made huge strides forward in the past 20 years, as has women's football. However, I headed along to Irvine this morning (July 24) to play at my course and passed by Dundonald Golf Club at around 9.30am. The Women's Scottish Open is being held there today. No traffic jams, no police directing traffic. Consider that compared to the men's event at the Renaissance Club recently. This is why TV put so much more cash into men's golf. It's economics, not misogyny. It's like trying to say the SPFL teams should be getting the same as English Premier League teams. It's just not possible. In order for women's golf or football to continue to grow it's essential that more women start to actually attend the tournaments and matches. If there were 20k people a day at the Women's Scottish Open then it wouldn't take long for TV to pump more cash in. The big objective for the leaders of women's sports is to increase attendances steadily over the next five years. That's common sense. John Gilligan, Ayr. Charlotte Laffar of England at the Women's Scottish Open at Dundonald Links (Image: PA) Pronoun problems This obsession amongst the vocal minority about which incorrect pronoun they must be referred to, in order to keep their thin skins intact, is becoming ridiculous. As previous contributors have noted, all grammatical sense sometimes goes out of the window. Remember Sam Smith and his aspiration to be a "fisherthem"? That suggests that those he would class as binary would be a "fisherhim" or "fisherher". (I shan't apologise for using the words "his" and "he" in the preceding sentences. To my mind, I'm not misgendering him. He's misgendering himself. In fact, the word "misgender" exists in neither my Chambers nor Oxford dictionaries). Brian Johnston, Torrance. Delayed reaction With the plight of the victims of the infected blood and Post Office scandals being recently highlighted once again, I have to, in my 79th year, agree that you are never past learning. MoD: it actually stands for Masters of Delay. The wretched Establishment at its best. Andrew Liddell, Banknock.
Daily Mail
18 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Victory for Christian foster mom agency tried to ban after she said she wouldn't give trans child hormones
A widowed Christian mom-of-five scored a major legal victory after a federal appeals court ruled that the state of Oregon violated her constitutional rights by barring her from adopting foster children because of her refusal to support gender transitions. Jessica Bates, who says her faith prevents her from using preferred pronouns or facilitating hormone treatments, was blocked by the state after she said she could not affirm an LGBTQ + child's identity. She sued - and now, the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals has sided with her, calling the state's policy a violation of her free speech and religious freedom. 'This is a win not just for me, but for people of faith who want to help kids without compromising their beliefs,' Bates said after the ruling. In a 2-1 decision issued on Thursday, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals struck down an Oregon Department of Human Services (ODHS) policy that effectively barred Bates from becoming a foster parent. Bates was refusing to comply with the state's requirement to 'respect, accept and support' a foster child's gender identity and sexual orientation. 'We hold that Oregon's policy violates the First Amendment as applied to Bates,' wrote Judge Daniel Bress in the court's majority opinion, joined by Judge Michael Daly Hawkins. The court ordered a preliminary injunction blocking the state from using its current policy to prevent Bates from moving forward with the adoption process. Bates, who lives in Malheur County, said she felt 'called by God' to care for additional children after losing her husband. The five children she already has are her biological kids. She had hoped to adopt two siblings under the age of nine but was disqualified after refusing to sign a commitment to fully affirm an LGBTQ+ child's identity, including using chosen names and pronouns or providing access to gender-related medical treatments. 'I believe God gives us our gender/sex and it's not something we get to choose,' Bates wrote in her application. 'I have no problem loving them and accepting them as they are, but I would not encourage them in this behavior.' The state of Oregon argued that its policy is essential to ensure the safety and well-being of vulnerable children in its custody. But the appeals court disagreed, finding the regulation was overly broad and imposed an unconstitutional burden on Bates' free speech and religious liberty. 'It is not narrowly tailored to impose on Bates an extreme and blanket rule that she may adopt no child at all based on her religious faith,' Bress wrote. The court emphasized that the state could simply avoid placing LGBTQ+ children with Bates while still allowing her to foster or adopt. The lone dissent came from Judge Richard Clifton, who warned that Bates was seeking to foster 'only on her terms,' and that the state had a legitimate interest in protecting children from potential rejection or harm. 'Parents would not be expected to entrust their children to caregivers who volunteer that they will not respect the child's self-determined gender identity,' Clifton wrote. The case has drawn national attention and praise from conservative groups, including the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), which represented Bates. 'Because caregivers like Jessica cannot promote Oregon's dangerous gender ideology to young kids and take them to events like pride parades, the state considers them to be unfit parents,' said ADF senior counsel Jonathan Scruggs. 'That is false and incredibly dangerous, needlessly depriving kids of opportunities to find a loving home. The 9th Circuit was right to remind Oregon that the foster and adoption system is supposed to serve the best interests of children, not the state's ideological crusade.' In an interview with KGW8, Bates reiterated her commitment to loving all children in her care, but said she would not affirm an LGBTQ+ identity or allow permanent medical interventions like hormone therapy. 'I'm still gonna love them deeply,' she said. 'But just like my biologicals, I probably will not allow them to do any, like, permanent... hormone injections, anything that's going to rob them of their God-given body.' Bates said she would not use a child's chosen name or pronouns and would instead steer the conversation toward her Christian faith. 'God makes our identity,' she said. 'It might not feel like a gift right now... but that's something actually really special, and you are beautiful and perfect, just how you are right now.' Asked whether she would reject an LGBTQ+ child, Bates said she would never kick a child out - except in cases of 'sexually aberrant' behavior. 'The Christian sex ethic is very narrow and simple... any of the sexual activity that's outside of God's defined institution of marriage is something I would not be OK with in my house,' she added. The court's decision now sends the case back to a lower court in Oregon, where Bates' constitutional claims will be reconsidered under strict scrutiny - the most rigorous standard in constitutional law. Historically, policies that fail this test are rarely upheld. ODHS has not yet said whether it plans to appeal the decision, but a spokesperson for the Oregon Department of Justice acknowledged the setback. 'We are disappointed in the ruling but are reviewing to determine next steps,' said Jenny Hansson. Meanwhile, Bates says she intends to continue the foster care certification process - and insists that her position is about faith, not hatred. 'I would hope that we would have open communication,' she said. 'But I would probably, you know, remind them of Christ, my Christian faith that... God makes our identity, and that's something sacred and holy.' The ruling is expected to have wide ramifications for how states balance nondiscrimination policies with religious freedom in the child welfare system and is already being hailed by Christian conservatives as a landmark win in the culture wars.
