The Dignity of the Dying Person

Dr. Evelyn L. Billings
Printed with Permission


Intervention by Dr Billings during the General Assembly in the Vatican of members of the Pontifical Academy for Life on the theme "The Dignity of the Dying"

The real and unchanging dignity of man is determined not by health, appearance, capability or age but by the fact that it was conferred at conception by an act of love of the Creator of Infinite Love.

God's gift to the newly created world was life. He gloried in the goodness that He saw. The creator's gift of life to human kind bore a special extra qualityÑthe dignity of bearing His own image and likeness. Man and woman He created them and He added gifts of intelligence and freedom of will to act, to protect and enjoy and rule. He gave them love so that the choice made would be according to the Creator's plans. The choice would be faithful to His truth and love, in obedience to the natural law of love.

In truth each newly created human being enjoys this mysterious dignity from the first moment of his being and this relationship that he has with God is a gift that will remain throughout his earthly life until his end in biological death. And so in human dignity which surpasses the life of all else on earth, his life goes on into eternity to meet his Creator, the Author of infinite love and mercy. This dignity, lovingly given, endures in the divine plan no matter how it seems to be damaged or destroyed by the actions of others or even by the individuals themselves.

To those who care to look, there seems to be no dignity in the mangled bodies of aborted infants. There appears to be no dignity in the death of an old neglected slum dweller, and no dignity in the appearance of a drug-crazed adolescent. There may seem to be very little dignity left to an elderly, slow-dying member of a vigorous and ambitious family impatiently waiting for the reading of the last will and testament and agreeing to the persuasion of an advocate of "merciful death" made legal by human legislation.

It is the Creator who has endowed the person with dignity by the giving of His image and likeness. No matter what the circumstances surrounding death, in whatever violence or squalor, that dignity cannot be lost, because God has made the gift. That dying person has lost dignity only in the eyes of the beholder, the neighbour who fails to love. The loss of physical perfection is assessed by human eyes. The lack of appreciation of this spiritual dignity by his neighbour exists where a doctor, spouse, parent or acquaintance is responsible for giving the innocent up to abortion or dragging down the poor and neglecting the helpless, disposing of the sick and old. It is the failure to know the Scriptures, to listen to the Church and the voice of Christ therein which conceals the dignity of the image of the Creator in all persons.

Failure to see this image in any living person is a failure to acknowledge one's own imageÑthe same Divine image we all have in common.

The gateway of death must be passed by every human being. Often it is those who are still to make the journey, guilty of lovelessness, who must suffer the guilt of their neglect or loveless acts, while the dead pass on, surrounded by angels, to where every tear is wiped away, to where God is seen face to face and his infinite love at last experienced, wondered at no longer.

We no doubt will hear in this assembly "The Dignity of the Dying Person", of the many sadnesses of illness, accidents, violations of all kinds, some blatant, some much more subtle as in the unscrupulous DNA manipulations. We will hear of the many acts of compassion and mercy of those who work in palliative care to alleviate suffering and give the full value to what little life remains. We think of wonderful people like Mother Teresa of Calcutta who loved the destitute and slaked the thirst of Christ by giving water to the thirsty and abandoned dying. We think of those who honour the mentally deficient by making their earthly lives as near to perfect as possible and, in so doing, teach them to give back love and so express the divine image in an extraordinary way. We think in terms of prevention of the terrible and loveless crimes against the afflicted and lonely, and we search for a human solution.

Part of the search must end in the realization that the family is the custodian of life and love, of truth and of the dignity of the human person from conception to natural death. The family properly formed is indeed the domestic church wherein it is learned the truth and the laws pertaining to it. It is the place where precept finds expression and guarantees the right.

The two great commandments, if obeyed, give peace to the soul. The love of neighbour as oneself is most easily served in the family where husband and wife have solemnly committed themselves to each other and to their children whom they will teach to love one another. It is the love which begins and is strengthened in the family which honours creation so that the as yet unconceived child has a ready welcome. The conceptus is greeted with joy and love best where the parents live within the gentle discipline of natural fertility regulation, knowing and respecting the loving act of creation at conception. Each member is thus valued and embraced with a love which encompasses all misfortunes. It is in the family that we see mirrored Christ's forgiveness. Each person in that family will know that they are individually precious Ñnot only to God who designed our lives making us like Himself, but also precious to each other, so that each will know that no matter what, love will take care and never let go. That love will accompany each one in the last great human adventure passing through the gateway into eternity to find a prepared place. Christ has told us: "In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place tor you?" Thomas said to him: "Lord we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?" Then Jesus said to him: "I am the way and the truth and the life; no-one comes to the Father but by me". May our families, properly taught, be that way. If they are, then all those family members will be aware of their wonderful dignity and will hold on to that assurance whatever the world has in store.

After witnessing all the agony and degradation inflicted by the cross on our dear Lord, did not the centurion say: "Truly this man was the Son of God!"? His kingship could not be obscured by all the terrors of torture or the appearance of utter human destruction.

And so we should see in every dying person, however degraded, the dignity assured by our creation in the image and likeness of God. By listening to the teachings of Mother Church and by teaching our children we will better know God and his love for us.

From one of Pope John Paul II's texts on "Active Ageing" we read "Without familiarity with God there is in the last end no consolation in death. For that is exactly what God intends with death that at least in this one sublime hour of our life we allow ourselves to fall into his love without any other security than just this love of His. How could we show Him our faith, our hope, our love in a more lucid manner!" And also Pope John PaulII says this: "Whatis awaiting allofus is abirth, a transformation whose pains we feel with Jesus on the Mount of Olives but whose radiant exit we already carry within ourselves".

May we never forget that superb dignity given to us at our beginning, or lose sight of it in our neighbours.