DETROIT's CHRISTIAN, JEWISH AND MUSLIM LEADERS SIGN INTERFAITH LETTER AGAINST PHYSICIAN-ASSISTED SUICIDE

Religious leaders who serve eight faith communities in southeastern Michigan gathered at Congregation Shaarey Zedek in Southfield, Michigan on Thursday, 7th May, 1998, to take the unprecedented step of signing an interfaith letter against physician-assisted suicide.

The signatories are members of the Religious Leaders Forum, a group of Christian, Jewish and Muslim leaders, who participate in interfaith dialogue and speak out on issues of joint concern.

Signing the document will be: Mrs. Hazel Boltwood, interim area minister for the Southeastern Area, American Baptist Churches of Michigan; Reverend Edward Gehres, Jr., executive presbyter, Presbytery of Detroit, Presbyterian Church; Rabbi Irwin Groner, president, Michigan Board of Rabbis, Congregation Shaarey Zedek; Imam Mohammad Ali Elahi, Islamic House of Wisdom; Bishop Ibrahim N. Ibrahim, Chaldean Catholic Diocese of America; Cardinal Adam Maida, archbishop of Detroit, Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit; Bishop J. Philip Wahl, Southeast Michigan Synod, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America; and Bishop R. Stewart Wood, Jr., Episcopal Diocese of Michigan.

The founders of the Religious Leaders Forum are: Rabbi Irwin Groner, Cardinal Adam Maida, and Bishop R. Stewart Wood, Jr.

primary contact: Ned McGrath, Archdiocese of Detroit for the Religious Leaders Forum 313/ 237-5943

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TEXT OF INTERFAITH LETTER ON PHYSICIAN-ASSISTED SUICIDE by RELIGIOUS LEADERS FORUM OF SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN

"Mindful of our leadership positions in the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim faith communities that we serve in Southeastern Michigan, and aware of the physician-assisted suicide phenomenon which occupies the attention of our community, we take this unprecedented step of issuing a joint statement against assisted suicide.

-- We beleive that life is a gift from the divine Creator, temporarily entrusted to us as faithful guardians of this sacred trust.
-- Our shared traditions speak against the use of physician-assisted suicide as an acceptable means of confronting end-of-life decision making.
-- Those who promote this last, fatal escape as a "right" should remember that such a "right" may quickly become an expectation and, finally, even a "duty" to die. We fear eventually some individuals and families will be forced to put financial concerns above the needs of loved ones.
-- Because we value the dignity of each person, we call upon our communities to extend their compassion and care to the chronically ill and the dying. While this care includes relief from suffering through medical solutions, it also involves any psychological and spiritual support needed by the suffering. This care is also to be extended to the families and caregivers of the dying.
-- We believe the dignity of the human person is an inestimable value our faith traditions. These values are at the heart of the current discussion on the self-determination of the time and place of one's death. Knowing that people of good will disagree on serious matters, we call upon all parties to conduct the communal dialogue with respect, and to refrain from personal attacks and ridicule.

We call for calm reflection and prayer, within the disciplines of our faith traditions, to come to the knowledge of what is required of us as stewards, not owners, of human life."

Signed this 7th May 1998 in Southfield, Michigan by:

Mrs. Hazel Boltwood, interim area minister for the Southeastern Area, American Baptist Churches of Michigan; Reverend Edward Gehres, Jr., executive presbyter, Presbytery of Detroit, Presbyterian Church; Rabbi Irwin Groner, president, Michigan Board of Rabbis, Congregation Shaarey Zedek; Imam Mohammad Ali Elahi, Islamic House of Wisdom; Bishop Ibrahim N. Ibrahim, Chaldean Catholic Diocese of America; Cardinal Adam Maida, archbishop of Detroit, Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit; Bishop J. Philip Wahl, Southeast Michigan Synod, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America; and Bishop R. Stewart Wood, Jr., Episcopal Diocese of Michigan.


Source: The Pro-Life Infonet (infonet-mod@prolife.org)

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