Bishop Mark writes to us this Sunday, to ask us to help safeguard some of the most vulnerable in our community: the sick, the dying, and those in their last days. A Private Member’s Bill has been laid before Parliament to introduce assisted suicide, which would require physicians to give the terminally ill the means to end their lives prematurely. No one would wish to die in agony or see a loved one do so: the end of life is for all of us a certainty and yet the manner of our death is uncertain. What we desire for ourselves we desire also for others: a peaceful death, free - so far as medically possible - of pain, surrounded by those we love. Such tender care is what the Church desires and wants for every person facing their last days. From the earliest days of the Church, care for the sick and the dying - now principally offered through the wonderful work of hospices and palliative care - has been a hallmark of our love for those close to death: think of The Hospice of the Good Shepherd here, so close to home.

The move to introduce assisted suicide would radically alter the relationship between doctors, nurses, and caregivers and those who are most vulnerable. Our priority must be support of our hospices and those who offer palliative care; through this end of life care no-one need die in agony or alone. A right to die may, very quickly, become a duty to die, with the dying mistakenly thinking themselves a burden on family or society. The Bishop encourages us to contact our MP, Justin Madders, to share

our concerns and views directly with him. Mr Madders can be contacted at: justin.madders.mp@parliament.uk or you can write to him at House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA.