What People are Commenting
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Transhumanism, Blasphemous Photos & Nursing
Transhumanism
Re: Will God Allow Transhumanism to Succeed?
Thank you for posting the transcript of your excellent address on the subject of transhumanism and similar topics. Are there plans to post transcripts or upload videos of the other addresses at TIA's recent Biennial Event?
For my part I have always held that attempts to develop transhuman technology will make very little progress, if any at all, as God will not allow us to eat the fruit of the Tree of Life (Gen. 3:22).
Please be assured of my prayers.
In Christ,
Br. M.J., OSB.
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Mr. Guimarães responds:
Dear Br. M.J.,
Thank you for your prayers and kind words on my talk, they mean a lot to me.
Yes, the scripts of Dr. Marian Horvat and Mr. Patrick Odou were posted on our website and can be read respectively here and here.
Cordially,
A.S. Guimarães
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Cellphones & Confessions
Is it permissible for a cellphone to be present during confession?
I leave my phone in the car when I go to church in general, but what about the priest?
With recent revelations in regards to the F.B.I. investigating Catholic Churches, I assume they are monitoring electronic devices of Catholics as well. Perhaps also during confession.
Just a thought.
T.J.A.
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TIA responds:
T.J.A.,
You are correct in being suspicious that cellphones may be recording everything the user says, and then keeping those records in a spy-file somewhere.
Although we cannot prove that cellphones are actually doing this, there is talk that this is possible, and even probable. So, it is more prudent to face this hypothesis than to be optimistic and have a bad surprise further down the road.
If this hypothesis is true, then Confession would be the most convenient time for a spy to record what a person is saying, since he would be voluntarily telling the priests his sins.
There is no doubt that this would be a hateful violation of one’s personal right to privacy, but in the electronic-dictatorial regime we are entering no rights are respected.
We believe that one does not lose anything by being prudent.
Cordially,
TIA correspondence desk
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Blasphemous ‘Photos of the Week’
Re: Blasphemous photos in the European Parliament
Please, for the love of God, STOP posting all these blasphemous images on your website!
It's just giving them more and more publicity! Why would you do that?
Yes, I understand you want to expose these horrible things happening in our world today. So go ahead, write articles about their evils, but PLEASE do not mar your Catholic website with this TRASH by posting such disgusting and sacrilegious images all over your site.
I recall a very holy priest we had in our church years ago (RIP) who, in his sermon was referring to some blasphemous image which was published, but refused to give any descriptions as he did not want any person "out of curiosity" to look it up!
A concerned Catholic,
M.W.
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TIA responds:
M.W.,
We are very sorry that the recent Picture of the Week hurt your feminine feelings.
We apologize for not putting a warning about the graphic photos Sunday night. Monday, however, we posted the warning in the two portals of our site (here and here) as well as in the general index of the Pictures of the Week, as you may verify for yourself.
Regarding this type of posting that you oppose, we have a different approach than the priest you mentioned.
We try to follow the Passion of the Church and of Christendom, no matter how shocking the sufferings inflicted upon them may be for ladies' or children’s sensibilities.
At times, the sufferings inflicted upon Our Lord Jesus Christ in His Passion were cruel and disgusting – He was stripped of his clothing, spit upon, slapped, stoned, treated as a criminal, ridiculed, crowned with thorns, and finally crucified. His sufferings, when pictured objectively, could also be considered trash. They were not something pleasing or inoffensive to the eyes of ladies or children. Nonetheless, Our Lady and the Holy Women were there, they followed Him and consoled Him.
When we post those shocking photos, besides being an act of reparation for the offenses against the Church and Christendom, we do so to keep a record of the extremity of evil that the Revolution – with the entire complicity of Progressivism – reached in our days. In the future, in the Reign of Mary, Catholics will not believe that the abomination reached the level we are witnessing.
So, we suggest you to keep this in perspective when you come to our website. Ours is not only a site for the formation of ladies and children, although we give to this task a great deal of importance.
When it comes to viewing more graphic pictures, we may ask Our Lady, St. John and the Holy Women to give us the courage and endurance they had while witnessing the Passion of Our Lord. Our will, oriented by our reason and illuminated by the Catholic Faith, should overcome our natural repulsion.
Cordially,
TIA correspondence desk
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Nursing & End of Life Care
Ave Maria!
I am a young nurse working in a local hospital, and I am finding my job increasingly difficult to navigate. Could you please point me to the correct Catholic teachings on caring for patients who have reached the end of their life?
In the hospital I work at, when a patient becomes increasingly ill, often the doctor will persist that the patient enter "end of life care". This usually involves the ceasing of food, hydration and regular medication (including by tube and intravenously). Morphine is given out very generously (which leads to decreased consciousness and respirations, and a multitude of other effects which ultimately bring about death faster). I think the majority of my patients are passing away from morphine overdose and not their underlying health condition. I also see family members or patients feeling extremely stressed and pressured into taking the "end of life route" by their doctors and nurses, despite them wanting to continue the treatment.
I am feeling so much guilt and confusion about what my role as a Catholic nurse is in this modern system. For example, when a doctor has ceased all nutrition and hydration, is it sinful that I have not fought for my patient's rights for this? Never have I intended to starve a patient or bring about their death faster, but this seems to be the ultimate effect of carrying out this "end of life care".
In regards to morphine, I have administered it only when requested by the patient or family, or if the patient appeared to be in severe pain. Sometimes I have suspected that it is the family members intention to bring about death faster - does this make my carrying out of their request sinful?
I have struggled to find a priest or good resource to teach me how I should be responding to this culture of death. The stress and confusion has gotten to the point where I think I will resign.
I would very much appreciate any insight you have into all of this. I am making a General Confession soon, and I want to make sure I clearly include any way that I have offended God through my nursing.
In Christo et Maria,
G.M.
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TIA responds:
Dear G.M.,
You are right in thinking to resign from your work in hospitals. The modern medical approach to nursing patients reaching the end of their lives has two immediate goals:
- First, to apply euthanasia without the name;
- Second, to eliminate any suffering for the sick or old person.
Euthanasia is criminal since it goes against Natural Law and pagan in inspiration since it denies the Catholic Moral teaching that the patient must be resigned with the will of God. This pagan mentality is strongly present in the modern medical profession. It is a sad reality that you are facing, and your desire to resist such "end of life" procedures is the Catholic response.
We have posted in this answer some guidelines for Catholic end-of-life procedures. This article addresses Euthanasia, and may give you some helpful insights.
We have found articles by Dr. Elizabeth Wickham on palliative care very helpful (here and here), where she sets out the plan to “repackage death” in the major transformation of traditional medical ethics that is taking place.
It has only accelerated since the Covid-19 panic. We have featured one of her articles on our site about POLST, developed as the “third path” wing of the euthanasia movement.
It is not wrong to administer some medicine for pain relief to a patient if he is in severe pain. However, as you noted, the morphine used today is often applied to shorten the patient's life, an act that indeed goes against Natural Law – it is criminal – and Catholic Morals – it is sinful.
Now then, if it was not your intention to shorten the lives of your patients, we don't believe you have committed mortal sin. However, considering the scenarios you are frequently finding yourself in – which are guaranteed to increase vs. decrease – it seems to us that the best option for you would be to remove yourself from these criminal actions which are also occasions of sin so that you will not be pressured into doing anything that you know is wrong.
Thus, our advice is for you to quit your work at the hospital and try to find alternatives where you can use your nursing skills to benefit others. For example, you could offer your services to elderly people in their homes. There is a growing need for this type of service, which is also an act of charity when undertaken with a concern for both the body and soul of the person.
We hope these considerations are helpful to you.
Cordially,
TIA correspondence desk
Posted May 16, 2023
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The opinions expressed in this section - What People Are Commenting - do not necessarily express those of TIA
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Re: Will God Allow Transhumanism to Succeed?
In my limited opinion, this will be another of God's tests for human beings.
And there will be a lot of pressure on our young people to accept this as it could allow advantages to those who use it in business and other occupations over those who refuse. It could be a difference between being hired or not. And what a test it will be.
There will be (1) Work pressure, (2) Peer pressure, (3) Convenience pressure, (4) Societal pressure; and thus far non-traditional Catholics have failed the other tests that have identical pressures: contraception, acting on same sex attraction, wokeness...
Welcome to a new war that we as Catholics are going to have to fight.
And like other sins, God will eventually chastise us for such actions.
Fr. T.J.H.