“‘Precious’ Suffering,” by Christopher Dickey and Rod Nordland, Newsweek, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6999966/site/newsweek/, 28 February 2005 (from The Corner).

Of all Catholic orders, none has done more good than the Society of Jesus. Therefore, to find a Jesuit agreeing with me on this sensitive topic is wonderful

Indeed, as the pope’s weakness becomes more pronounced, critics wonder if the Vatican’s bureaucrats will be doing his bidding, or making up their own policies in their own interests. After all, if John Paul dies or resigns, their own power in the church hierarchy is likely to evaporate. Hence the suspicion with which some theologians view the new doctrines about sustaining terminal patients through extraordinary means. “The right-to-life types want to renounce brain death and keep everyone going forever,” says John Paris, a Jesuit theologian at Boston College who has been writing about end-of-life issues for 30 years. “It seems that Lenin’s mausoleum will be the model for the future. The entire enterprise is mischief-making at the Vatican.”

Not every future is worth creating. Not every life is worth living. While certainly most of history, and most of the Gap today, is biased in the other direction, as society progresses it is important that dedication to the Gospel of Life does not make us lose sight of this fact.