Something big has happened in Seattle. So big, that I think it’s time for major Christian publications in the United States — conservative and liberal, Catholic and Protestant — to issue a joint statement on the topic.

And Michael Sean Winters ought to be one of its authors. Stream readers may be unfamiliar with him. He is a columnist at the National Catholic Reporter, the newspaper of record for liberal Catholics. Though an opponent of assisted suicide, he recently penned a gentle piece presuming the best about a Seattle parish that may have been involved in one, and expressing sympathy for the man who took his life. He also strongly opposed assisted suicide.

One can reasonably react to the situation as did Winters. But I would like to explain why I believe this episode calls for much more. And why I am particularly focused on Michael Sean Winters.

The Story

Here is what has been reported. On August 26th, the Associated Press reported that Robert Fuller had taken his own life with the blessing of his Catholic parish in Seattle. He did so under his state’s Death With Dignity Act. He had the help of volunteers from a group called End of Life Washington. The day of his death he held a party attended by “fellow church parishioners.” A gospel choir sung the “Ave Maria.” The parish’s choir director praised him for his courage.

His decision had been “widely known and accepted among parishioners.” The parish’s choir director admires him for it. The parish even held a sort-of death ceremony for him: “At the service where he received his last communion on May 5, the Rev. Quentin Dupont brought over a group of white-clad children who were receiving their first communion. They raised their arms and blessed him.”

But it may have been the deceased activist’s setup. The Archdiocese of Seattle released a statement claiming “parish leadership was not aware of Fuller’s intentions.” The priest later gave an interview to America magazine denying knowledge of Fuller’s intent. Perhaps Fuller orchestrated the media coverage to give the false impression that his parish approved of his actions.

A Catholic News Agency reported that Fuller’s Facebook posts claimed his pastor had blessed what he was going to do. The archdiocese issued a second statement. It still affirms that neither the pastor nor the visiting priest knew what Fuller wanted to do.

We don’t know for sure what really happened between Fuller and his parish’s leadership. But the Associated Press story was accurate at least this far: “Fuller’s decision was widely known and accepted among the parishioners.” It would be in other Catholic parishes around the country.

We’re No Longer So United

Which brings me back to Michael Sean Winters. In 2015, four Catholic periodicals — two liberal and two conservative — issued a joint statement against the death penalty. I called all four to issue a similar statement against assisted suicide. “It is the next great fight, barreling down the runway of cultural decline and both the conservative movement and the Catholic commentariat seem barely aware of it,” I wrote.

Winters responded to me. He said, essentially, that such a statement was unnecessary because his publication’s liberal Catholic readers already oppose assisted suicide.

That was four years ago. A lot has happened since then. Three years ago, ten Canadian bishops implicitly approved the possibility of a priest blessing someone about to kill himself. And at least at Seattle’s St. Therese Parish many thought Fuller’s suicide was something to celebrate. Liberal Catholics aren’t so united in opposing it any more.

We’ve seen it before. The defense of unborn life and the Catholic understanding of marriage both started off as bipartisan causes. Liberals and conservatives together opposed abortion and same-sex marriage. They both turned into bitterly partisan issues. Why? Liberal Catholics once upheld the Church’s teaching on both of those. Then they opposed it. Led, in part, by the National Catholic Reporter. Now they don’t.

We lost the chance for a united witness. The same thing could happen on assisted suicide. And it will, unless we get out ahead of it.

How Do We Do That?

How do we get out ahead? By speaking up together. By making our united witness heard and seen. Last time America and the National Catholic Reporter on the liberal side and the National Catholic Register and Our Sunday Visitor on the conservative side spoke with one voice against the death penalty. They can do this again to speak against the threat to the vulnerable called assisted suicide.

As I have written before, Protestants are struggling with this issue too. Let’s include liberal and conservative Protestant magazines as well. Why couldn’t a statement include, say, both the evangelical World Magazine and the mainline Christian Century? Christianity Today and Sojourners?

We need to do this now to shore up Christian opposition to assisted suicide. A joint statement combining conservative and liberal Catholics with conservative and liberal Protestants would demonstrate the Christian unanimity on assisted suicide. Whereas Christian division has hurt our witness in other matters, our unity in opposing assisted suicide could have a tremendous effect in stopping a grave threat to vulnerable people.

I nominate Michael Sean Winters to head up the project. We need to do this while his liberal readers still mostly oppose assisted suicide. And before there are any more incidents like Seattle.

 

Peter Wolfgang is president of Family Institute of Connecticut Action. He lives in Waterbury, Conn., with his wife and their seven children. The views expressed on The Stream are solely his own.