A Heavy Heart
I write today with a heavy heart, a heart weighed done in suffering as we are just days away from assisted suicide becoming legal in New York State. It happens on August 5th. This is “a time to weep, and…a time to mourn” (Ecclesiastes 3:4).
In his letter on July 29th of this week, Bishop Bonnici described this as “a deeply sorrowful moment in our state’s history” as the law legalizing assisted suicide “fails to uphold the dignity of every human person, especially those who are most vulnerable.”
In their statement on July 30, 2026, the New York State Catholic Conference (NYSCC) calls the legalization of assisted suicide in New York State, “a sad milestone” and writes that “our elected officials have turned the notion of “death with dignity” on its head.”
The NYSCC goes on to describe the enactment of the law as “a failure of compassion” and states, “that it is in direct conflict with Catholic teaching.”
At times I have found myself wondering if I could have done more to encourage people to contact our elected officials in opposition to the M.A.I.D. law. M.A.I.D…,the very name causes me anguish. It stands for Medical Aid in Dying, but how can there be such a thing? Medical aid is meant to support life and the person. How can something that rejects the person and kills them be called “medical aid”?
It is not like we did not see it coming. Other nations and a few states in the United States legalized assisted suicide years ago. As I looked at my previous writings, I found one article written in June 2011 (“Dignity in Dying”). Going back even further, I remember assisted suicide (then called Euthanasia) being covered in some classes.
For several years, bills have been introduced in the New York State legislature to legalize assisted suicide but they were never acted on it. At least twice, it has been a public policy advocacy issue in our Diocese of Rochester (see my homilies in 2017 and 2020).
In 2021, I did a series of presentations, Treating Life with Dignity and Love, on Catholic Prolife teaching. I dedicated one entire presentation in the series to the specific issue of assisted suicide (Part III).
After legalized abortion was made part of the New York State Constitution in November 2024, I wrote an article, “The Beginning and the End”, providing an explanation for knowing that life begins at conception. While the M.A.I.D. bill was not an immediate issue then, I included a discussion about when life ends. It must have been the Holy Spirit for it was only a few months later when the M.A.I.D. bill began to move forward in the New York State legislature.
It is not just abortion or assisted suicide that is an issue of life. In another article, “Towards a Culture of Life”, I wrote on the way we look at life in general.
We can look back to Pope St. John Paul’s encyclical, Evangelium Vitae, published on March 25th, the day we celebrate the Annunciation to Mary when Jesus was conceived in her womb, to see how the “culture of death” was spreading then.
People who support abortion and/or assisted suicide do not seem to grasp that “There is an appointed time for everything, and a time for every affair under the heavens. A time to give birth, and a time to die” (Ecclesiastes 3:1-2). They do not recognize God as the author of life.
When the assisted suicide act began to move forward in New York State last year, it was described by its supporters as compassion, a desire to eliminate suffering. Reflecting on suffering, the Holy Spirit led me to reread Pope St. John Paul’s Apostolic Exhortation Salvifici Doloris, to be renewed in what our Catholic faith teaches on suffering. My rereading of this exhortation led me to write yet another article, “Finding Value in Suffering”.
As the NYSCC wrote in their statement last week, we now need to be concerned that lawmakers may “use this new law as an excuse to further delay appropriate investments in access to palliative and hospice care.” We do not have to kill a person to show compassion for their suffering. Modern medicine can often eliminate pain. When it cannot be eliminated, it can be managed.
In addition to my article “Finding Value in Suffering”, I wrote other articles in the last 1 ½ years as the assisted suicide bill moved forward in New York State. You can find these articles on my blog in the ProLife: End of Life category.
I would like to clarify one misconception. There are some people who think because we oppose assisted suicide, that we think that we must prolong life at all costs. No, we acknowledge a time can come when it is appropriate to end extraordinary forms of treatment. My previous writings and presentation give further guidance on this.
With assisted suicide becoming legal in New York State this week (specifically August 5th), one might think we have lost the war. We have only lost one battle but our fight for life goes on and God is on own side. Actually, it is the other way around. We are on God’s side. We recognize him as our Creator and the author of life. We leave the final decision to God to know when it is a time to be born and when it is our time to die.
For a year, we fought the battle of the legality of assisted suicide in New York State. It was an important battle that needed to be fought. While that battle seems lost (the law could be changed), we continue to fight a more important battle for the salvation of souls. We must continue to offer what our faith teaching regarding the immorality of assisted suicide. This battle is not fought with governments. This battle is fought in the hearts and souls of the people, the people created in the image of God (Genesis 1:27) and called to be children of God. If we convince everyone that assisted suicide is a bad choice, no one will choose it, legal or not.
Until all people recognize that assisted suicide violates the Fifth Commandment, Thou Shall Not Kill, we have much work to do. We can pray. We must pray. It is the seventh spiritual work of mercy. What do we pray for? Our Bishops in New York State ask us to pray in two ways. They ask us “to pray for those facing difficult health crises, depression, disability, and the end-of-life.
They also ask us to pray “that our state citizens reject the Culture of Death and embrace a Culture of Life.
In his letter, Bishop Bonnici invites us to offer our prayers “Through the intercession of the Blessed Virigin Mary, St. Joseph, patron of a happy death, and St. John Fisher, patron of the Diocese of Rochester.” (Here is a link to a novena that, working with some parishioners at St. Mary’s of the Lake and St. Benedict’s and some friends, I wrote last year for End-of-Life care.)
Let us also pray for those who have participated in assisted suicide, for their conversion and the forgiveness of their sins.
What else can we do?
We can follow the example of Bishop John Bonnici who wrote in his letter to the people of our diocese, “I have been privileged to accompany many people as they approached the end of their earthly lives.” When we do this, like Bishop Bonnici, we can witness “moments of extraordinary grace” as families gather in love and with “peaceful trust in God’s peace.” We provide accompanient so “that no should face death alone” (Bishop Bonnici Letter to the Faithful, July 29, 2026). Accompaniment fufills the fifth Corporal Work of Mercy to visit the sick (see Matthew 25:36). Here some of you might even be called by God to volunteer in comfort care home or hospice homes. If you are able, you might make financial donations to comfort care or hospice homes (please make sure they do not support assisted suicide).
You might also consider offering a day of fasting or another sacrifice for the dignity of all life, especially as death approaches.
I end with a thought offered by Bishop Bonnici in his letter. Using his words, I “encourage you to remain rooted in the hope of the Gospel.”
Peace,
Fr. Jeff