THE TABLET
Nov. 10, 2007
Called to Share the Gift of Life

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

During the month of November, churches in the New York area have been asked to conduct what has become known as “National Donor Sabbath.”  The purpose of this Sabbath is to reflect on how people of faith can become organ donors and donors of blood and tissue, so important in maintaining life.  We cannot easily understand the greater complexity which we face in new situations of donation today.  Faith communities throughout the nation are invited to participate in discussions on the abilities to sustain human life through organ, tissue, blood and marrow donation. 

Perhaps the donation we are most familiar with is the donation of blood.  Blood is the most necessary element in our bodies.  Without it we cannot remain healthy and in a constant state.  Many operations today still depend on replacement of blood that is lost through routine and complex operations. 

As the Religious Chair of the New York Blood Center, I encourage you, if you are able,  to consider a regular practice of blood donations. The gift of blood is truly a selfless act which, although involving some inconvenience, is not life-threatening, but can assure others of a life-saving donation.  Our country is one in which voluntary action is the hallmark of our relationship with one another, and so the voluntary donation of blood simply follows from who we are as a people, but we do lack the volunteers today who will take the time and make the effort to donate this gift of life to others.

The more complex issues today are faced when we enter into the discussion of organ, tissue and marrow donations.  The Catholic teaching has constantly been that we must promote and safeguard the dignity of the human person in healthcare through the expansion of life sciences.  There are many questions, concerns and some misinformation; however, that can make us very hesitant about signing the back of our driver’s licenses indicating that in case of accidental death, we are willing and ready to donate our body for the use of others.

Unfortunately, the terms in current use today, such as “harvesting organs,” can lead to great hesitancy and misunderstanding.  It is obviously the teaching of the Church that no organ or tissue necessary for life can be extracted from a person who is still alive.  Such donations can only be morally carried out after the person’s natural death.  The determination of death is an ever-complex, moral question since we can maintain life today through many artificial means, some ordinary and others extraordinary.  The discontinuance of extraordinary means is morally justified, while the discontinuance or ordinary means is not. 

The Holy See issued guidelines in September regarding defining ordinary means of sustaining life, especially for those who are in persistent vegetative states.  The administration of nutrition and hydration by mechanical or other means is an ordinary means of sustaining life because it represents basic human care.  Generally, food and water should not be withdrawn from patients who are alive.  In no way should we hasten death, but rather allow life to run its natural course.  However, in the last stages of a terminal disease when a person is near death, if the patient’s body can no longer easily accept or process nutrition and hydration, it may be legitimately discontinued.  So, as we consider the donation of organs, tissue and marrow, we recognize the clear directives that should be followed by anyone considering such a wonderful gift that will enable the lives of others to continue.

Let us continue to educate ourselves about the possibility of organ donation.  There is no other greater act of “putting out into the deep” than facing death knowing that what sustained our life might sustain the lives of others.  Join me in prayer that the conditions surrounding organ donation will be clearly identified so that more people can give the gift of life to others.

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