Dutch Proposal for Priestless Masses

The general curia of the Dominicans expressed surprise over a booklet published by members of the order in the Netherlands recommending that laypeople be allowed to celebrate Mass when no ordained priests are available. In a written statement released by the Vatican Sept. 18, the Dominicans’ Rome-based leaders said that while they “laud the concern of our brothers” over the shortage of priests, they did not believe “the solutions that they have proposed are beneficial to the church nor in harmony with its tradition.” The statement, dated Sept. 4, acknowledged the concerns of some Dutch Dominicans about the shortage of vocations to the priesthood and the difficulty in offering the faithful in the Netherlands a wider celebration of the Eucharist. But while the statement said Dominican leaders shared those same concerns, it said they did “not believe that the method they [the Dutch Dominicans] have used in disseminating” a booklet to all 1,300 parishes in the Netherlands was an appropriate way to discuss the issue.

Vatican Clarifies Position on Artificial Nutrition

Catholic health care and ethics groups thanked the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith for clarifying its stand on artificial nutrition and hydration for patients in a persistent vegetative state in a pair of Sept. 14 documents. “The Catholic health ministry is grateful for the clarification provided today,” said Carol Keehan, a member of the Daughters of Charity who is president and C.E.O. of the Catholic Health Association.

“Patients in a persistent vegetative state, while making up a very small percent of all patients, pose some of the most challenging and heart-wrenching situations for families and caregivers,” she added. “This clarification affirms the church’s belief in the value of their lives in spite of the circumstances of their condition.”

The congregation reasoned that “the artificial administration of water and food generally does not impose a heavy burden either on the patient or on his or her relatives. It does not involve excessive expense; it is within the capacity of an average health care system, does not of itself require hospitalization, and is proportionate to accomplishing its purpose, which is to keep the patient from dying of starvation and dehydration. It is not, nor is it meant to be, a treatment that cures the patient, but is rather ordinary care aimed at the preservation of life.”

Exceptions may occur when patients are unable to assimilate food and water or in rare cases when nutrition and hydration become excessively burdensome for the patient, the Vatican document said.

U.N. Prize for Refugee Service Lawyer

A U.N. prize for outstanding service to refugees has been awarded to a Jesuit Refugee Services lawyer who aids boat people in Malta. Katrine Camilleri, who has helped detainees and asylum seekers in Malta since 1997, will receive this year’s This article appears in October 1 2007.