Bishop Gerald Wiesner, O.M.I.

Dear Sisters and Brothers,

Of recent times the media is reminding us that we are living through a time of weakness in our Church. It needs to be said that sexual abuse of minors, especially by clergy and religious, is inexcusable. It must be admitted that wrong has been done and many persons have been seriously wounded, in many instances for life. It must also be admitted that in some instances, secrecy prevailed and the abuse was allowed to continue. This too is wrong.

Fault on the part of the Church needs to be acknowledged and serious effort needs to be made to ensure that the abuse does not continue and that opportunities for victims to find healing be provided. Without announcing peoples’ faults to the world there is need for the Church to be transparent and to cooperate with civil authorities in these matters.

Since 1992 the Canadian Bishops have made constant and serious effort to eliminate this problem and provide proper methods of healing and prevention.

In our diocese we have faithfully followed the directives and have a proper committee in place to deal with issues as they surface.

I am truly sorry for the pain that these matters have caused and, in many instances, the continuing pain many experience through constant reminders. It is at a time like this that we need to renew our faith in the Risen Lord who has conquered all evil, and to renew our prayerful support for one another.

Sincerely in our Lord,

Gerald Wiesner, O.M.I.
Bishop

Bishop’s Letter to Parliament Re: Bill C:384

Mr. Richard Harris
Member of Parliament
206 – 575 Quebec Street
Prince George, BC V2L 1W6

Dear Mr. Harris:

I am writing on behalf of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Prince George, which covers the territory from Fort St. John to and including the Queen Charlotte Islands. I wish to express our position regarding the proposed Bill C-384.

It would appear quite clear that legalizing euthanasia and assisted suicide legalizes the taking of the life of another person. The principles involved are the intrinsic value and sanctity of human life and the relational or interdependent quality of human life which imposes a sense of mutual responsibility. Although a legal distinction is made between euthanasia and assisted suicide, there is no ethical difference. The moral responsibility is the same whether the third party provides the pills or gives an injection.

Catholics believe that life is a gift of God’s love and goodness. We do not have absolute dominion over the gift of life; we are stewards, not owners of life. Consequently, the time and circumstances of our birth and death, and that of others, are not ours to choose. Death is an inevitable part of life and a transition to eternal life.

Euthanasia and assisted suicide have broad and grave consequences. The frail, poor, elderly and others who are vulnerable would be at the mercy of third parties who could exercise pressure on them to see an earlier death as an option. They could even feel compelled to ask for a premature death if it is available. This danger would only increase as health resources decrease.

The role of the physician and the patients’ trust in the physician would be undermined. Palliative care would be marginalized. If assisted suicide or euthanasia were permitted for the terminally ill on the basis of their suffering, their autonomy and their individual self-determination over life itself, how could it be denied to those who are depressed, infirm, frail or suffering for other reasons?

Legitimately euthanasia or assisted suicide, which allows one person to kill another, would diminish respect for human life. It would also erode the basic trust that human life will be protected – a trust that is essential to the functioning of any society.

Thank you, Mr. Harris, for giving attention to our concerns. Thank you for serving our people and country the way you do.

Sincerely yours,

Gerald Wiesner, O.M.I.
Bishop

GW:malj

June 2009

The following is from our bishop’s message at solemn vespers on June 18, 2009, the Feast of the Sacred Heart and the beginning of the Year of the Priest inaugurated by Pope Benedict XVI

We gather this evening to mark the beginning of the Year of the Priest. Our Holy Father planned this year as an opportunity for all to ponder once more with awe and gratitude the work of our Lord in instituting the priesthood and linking it so intimately with the Eucharist. It is a time for us to discover in a new way the importance of the priesthood and of every priest. In a particular way it is a time for us as priests to renew the consciousness of our identity, who we really are and who it is that we are called to be. It is also a time for us to reinvigorate the missionary zeal that flows from our intimacy with our Lord.

The Holy Father has selected as the title for the year, “The Faithfulness of Christ and the Faithfulness of the Priest”. In the letter to the Philippians (2:6-11) there is a clear picture of the faithfulness of Christ, a faithfulness on which we are to base our priesthood, a faithfulness that we are to try to exemplify in our priesthood. We see in this reading an invitation to have the same dispositions that Jesus showed and to try to make that present in the world today. Jesus emptied himself and it is in this self emptying that he reveals what God is like. He takes the form of a slave. It is in this that we see the form of our God who serves and it is this that we are invited to exemplify.

We are called to be priests who are faithful after the faithfulness or Christ; we have to identify our person with our ministry. In Jesus his person and his ministry coincide. So, too, our whole life is to be given to our ministry. Our vocation is our life, our life in our vocation. Speaking to priests, Father Karl Rahner, the great theologian of the last century, said that the candle on the candlestick that we are in the Church is to burn away with its own heat. This is what we are called to be and to try to reinforce this year.

As priests we need to remember that we make up one priestly people together with the laity. We are to promote the dignity and the role of the laity in the church’s mission. We need to listen to the laity and give brotherly consideration to the wishes of the laity, to acknowledge their experience and competence to share their mission and recognize the many and varied gifts of the laity. As the Holy Father said, we are not just to collaborate with the laity but be co-responsible with them for the mission of the church.

We are to be witnesses to the gospel. Pope Paul VI said that society responds more to witnessing than to teaching; and if it responds to teaching it is because the teachers also witness.  We have to ask ourselves, as priests, are we truly influenced by the Word of God? Do we really extend the Word of God by our being, by our actions, by who we are? Jesus called the Twelve in Mark’s gospel first of all to be his companions. As Scripture scholars remind us, and it is evident in the gospel, they had to be with Jesus for a rather lengthy period of time before he sent them out to preach. And so it is with us. We are called to be his companions; we are called to be with him in such a way that who we are reflects him to the world around us.

The Year of the Priest is not only a year for us to renew our faithfulness to Christ but it is also a time for all the Church to help priests respond to our call, for all of the faithful to help us renew and grow in our faithfulness to Christ. It is a year wherein faith communities are called to help priests respond to our call, to help us as priests to grow in our relationship, in our ministry, in order that we might have a greater zeal as we carry out the mission of Jesus.

The Year of the Priest is also a time for all of us to reflect with heartfelt gratitude on the immense gift that priests present not only for the Church but for the world. Here we think of priests, faithful to the Word, quietly presenting Christ’s words, Christ’s actions each day. I think of priests striving to be one with the Lord in their thoughts, their will, their sentiments and their style of life. I think of priests in their apostolic labors, their tireless and hidden service, their unusual charity, constantly at the disposition of God’s people and the message of Christ. I think of their faithful ministering of God’s life in the sacraments and especially in the Eucharist. We are being invited to ponder that reality and to help priests deepen all of that within their being. And for all of us as faithful people we are being called to cooperate with the priests in bringing about the mission of Jesus.

The Year of the Priest is a year for all of us in the faith community. In the words of Pope Benedict it is a year “meant to deepen the commitment of all priests to interior renewal for the sake of a more forceful and incisive witness to the gospel in today’s world.” That’s our job, that’s what is laid before us. We begin this year in that spirit, seeking the gift that it is and seeing the responsibility that is ours in making this year what it is intended to be. We also resolve to live it out in order that we might become more committed to the proclamation of the gospel so that God’s reign might prevail more faithfully in the world.