In the spring I took a course to become a hospice volunteer. After spending 12 years railing against euthanasia, both in newspaper articles and through talks, I thought it was time to put my beliefs into concrete action. 

METUCHEN, N.J. -- New Jersey's new law allowing assisted suicide, effective Aug. 1, "points to an "utter failure" on the part of government and indeed all society, said Bishop James F. Checchio of Metuchen.

VATICAN CITY -- "Every life is valuable, always," Pope Francis tweeted after offering prayers for Vincent Lambert, a 42-year-old French man who died July 11, nine days after doctors stopped providing him with nutrition and hydration.

REIMS, France (CNA) -- Doctors have said they will begin to remove intravenous feeding tubes from Vincent Lambert, though his parents have asked international authorities to intervene to avoid the death of the man, who requires artificial life support due to a severe injury.

OXFORD, England -- A senior Dutch priest criticized media reports on the death of a teenager experiencing depression, accusing foreign media of "sensationalizing euthanasia" in his country.

VATICAN CITY -- The withdrawal of nutrition and hydration from a patient whose body can absorb them is a "serious violation" of the person's dignity, said two Vatican officials.

More than one in every 100 deaths in Canada is administered by a doctor, according to the latest national statistics on euthanasia and assisted suicide.

Despite warnings that an overhaul of health care in Ontario could sideline Catholic values and governance, organizations that represent Catholic hospitals, nursing homes, hospices and health services are optimistic they can be players in a more centralized health system.

As the saying goes, no news is good news.

OTTAWA – Despite granting privileges to a palliative care physician who supports Canada’s euthanasia law, the Catholic identity of Elisabeth Bruyère Hospital is not threatened, said Ottawa’s archbishop.

OTTAWA – Euthanasia opponents welcomed news that Canada’s new Attorney General David Lametti says the Liberal government has no plans to expand access to assisted suicide in the near future.

New evidence heard in court has given Ontario’s medical conscientious objectors renewed hope.

Britain’s Royal College of Physicians has adopted a neutral position on assisted suicide until they hear back from British doctors on whether they favour changing United Kingdom laws against doctors helping their patients commit suicide.

Canadian Physicians for Life is mobilizing its members for a grassroots appeal to politicians to protect doctors who do not wish to participate in any way in the assisted suicide of patients.