The Apostolate for Persons with Disabilities-Diocese of Madison will be sponsoring a four-part series starting in September.
Tag: suicide
It should be easier to ‘get help’
Suicides aren’t typically reported as news stories, but unfortunately, one was recently — that of Neena Pacholke.
She sent a hundred love letters
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In a recent essay in the Wall Street Journal, Kimberly Cutter chronicled the death of her father by suicide. As he struggled with rapidly progressing prostate cancer, he lost more than 30 pounds, becoming gaunt and emaciated. Back pain and nausea forced him to spend much of his time in bed.
A few days before Christmas, he shared with Kimberly that he was thinking about shooting himself. Kimberly argued with him, stressing that she and her sisters couldn’t accept a violent ending: “If he shot himself, my father would die alone. Someone in our family would have to find him,” she wrote.
Looking into options
His daughters convinced him to look into other options. When he started investigating lethal drugs, he ran into questions of reliability. He encountered horror stories about “wrong dosages and unreliable contents, painful, drawn-out demises.”Presentation on suicide offered at Baraboo parish
BARABOO — Jody […]
Preventing teen suicide both in community and home
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| Ask DMU |
After the 13 Reasons Why debut that dramatizes the reasons behind one teen girl’s suicide, there has been a significant amount of discussion regarding teenage suicide and preventing such actions.
Some authors have debated whether or not the Netflix series will harm or help adolescents when navigating both their own and their peers’ feelings regarding this important topic.
Here, however, I wish to discuss ways that you can identify whether or not your teen (or an adolescent you know) is at risk for taking their life, and then what you can do to help.
The Culture of Life begins in our hearts and our hands
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| Sr. Constance Veit |
Each October we observe Respect Life Month in dioceses throughout the United States. Although ending abortion remains a priority of the utmost importance, threats to the disabled and those at the end of life deserve our attention as well.
The legalization of medically assisted suicide in Canada in June should serve as a wake-up call compelling us to reach out in solidarity to our most vulnerable brothers and sisters.
Taking away guns not way to solve problems
To the editor:
In the June 30 issue of the Herald, you argue that we should “Work for sensible gun control.” Ninety-three percent of guns used in crimes are obtained illegally, whereas less than one percent are from gun shows.
It is true that most U.S. suicides use guns, but America’s suicide rate is not unusually high — in other countries, they find a way. Our gun homicide rate is unusually high, but 63 percent of victims have a criminal history — most gun violence happens between criminals.
Work for sensible gun control
In the wake of the shootings in the nightclub in Orlando, Fla., I’ve heard some people say, “We have to buy a gun to protect ourselves.”
While on the surface that may seem like something to consider, I’ve looked into the issue of gun ownership and found some alarming statistics.
Rarely used for self-defense
Most studies show that guns are rarely used in self-defense. When you think about it, unless you’re carrying a gun with you everywhere you go, you often won’t be able to get to your gun quickly enough to defend yourself.
Instead, gun owners are far more likely to injure themselves or an innocent person rather than stop a criminal, according to a study released in 2015 by the Violence Policy Center.
A higher standard than for cats and dogs
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Sometimes people will point out: “We euthanize our pets when they suffer, and they are clearly creatures of God, so why can’t we euthanize a sick and suffering person who wants it? It seems like we treat our dogs and cats better than we treat our suffering family members.”
The way we treat animals, however, should not be the measure of how we treat fellow human beings. We keep animals as pets, but we don’t do the same with humans. We use animals to make clothing and food, but we don’t do the same with humans.
Differences between humans and animals
For all our similarities to the rest of the animal kingdom, we are aware of a fundamental difference in kind between ourselves and our furry friends. We are not meant to die just as animals do, or be euthanized as they are. The death of a human is a more complex event that has other important realities associated with it.
Pope: Nothing can justify terrorist attacks
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| A child lights a candle in Republique square in Paris November 14 in memory of victims of terrorist attacks. Coordinated attacks the previous evening claimed the lives of 129 people. The Islamic State claimed responsibility. (CNS photo/Paul Haring) |
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Using God’s name to try to justify violence and murder is “blasphemy,” Pope Francis said November 15, speaking about the terrorist attacks on Paris.
“Such barbarity leaves us dismayed, and we ask ourselves how the human heart can plan and carry out such horrible events,” the pope said after reciting the “Angelus” prayer with visitors in St. Peter’s Square.
Attacks by terrorists
The attacks in Paris November 13 — attacks the French government said were carried out by three teams of Islamic State terrorists — caused the deaths of at least 129 people and left more than 350 injured, many of them critically. A suicide bomber blew himself up outside a soccer stadium, gunmen attacked customers at cafes and restaurants, and a team of terrorists gunned down dozens of people at a concert.
The attacks, Pope Francis said, were an “unspeakable affront to the dignity of the human person.”
“The path of violence and hatred cannot resolve the problems of humanity, and using the name of God to justify this path is blasphemy,” he said.
Pope Francis asked the thousands of people who gathered at St. Peter’s for the Sunday midday prayer to observe a moment of silence and to join him in reciting a “Hail Mary.”
“May the Virgin Mary, mother of mercy, give rise in the hearts of everyone thoughts of wisdom and proposals for peace,” he said. “We ask her to protect and watch over the dear French nation, the first daughter of the Church, over Europe and the whole world.”
“Let us entrust to the mercy of God the innocent victims of this tragedy,” the pope said.
Pope ‘shaken and pained’
Speaking November 14, the day after the terrorist attacks, Pope Francis had told the television station of the Italian bishops’ conference, “I am shaken and pained.”