Portsmouth Diocese e-News Issue 460
Bishop Philip writes…
This picture of sun, sea and peaceful tourism is from the shores of the Mediterranean in Lebanon. Lebanon has the highest proportion of Christians of any Middle Eastern country, estimated to be between 37% and 43%. Yet sadly, Lebanon is now embroiled in the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah. Once again, we need to storm heaven with our prayers asking the Holy Spirit to change hearts and minds to bring about peace across Israel, Palestine and Lebanon – not forgetting too the conflict in Ukraine and the long-suffering peoples there.
Welcome to this week’s e-News – which begins with a sobering item on the deadly “Sarco Capsule”. If you missed me on Radio Solent on Sunday morning, you can listen again below. You can also read my homily from Sunday, “The Day of Battle,” and about my visit to St. Swithun Wells parish and to Portsmouth CathSoc. Today, we begin the month of October so let’s promise the Lord to say five decades of the Rosary each day this month for peace in the world and for all our diocesan intentions. There’s a new online course on the History of Spirituality beginning later this week, but don’t forget that this Friday is CAFOD Family Fast Day. Meanwhile, please be assured of my prayers and best wishes for the week ahead.
In Corde Iesu
+ Philip
Bishop of Portsmouth
[Image: Hospitality News Middle East]
Beware of the Sarco
From the Bishop
It is shocking – and deeply sad – to think that a few minutes after this photo was taken the 55-year-old woman climbed into the machine, pressed the button and committed suicide. May she rest in peace. The ‘Sarco Pod’ – from the word ‘sarcophagus’ – was invented in 2017 by the euthanasia campaigner Philip Nitschke, as a device to help people commit suicide. Like a gas chamber, its operation is simple. When the user lies back and the lid is closed, s/he presses a button to activate it. Liquid nitrogen floods the cabin, causing the oxygen level to drop to less than 5% in under a minute. The user will at first feel a bit dizzy but then rapidly lose consciousness and die. Users can choose either a dark or transparent lid for the capsule. The transparent view would be chosen if they wished to view relatives gathered round or to die in a particular place. In the case here, the woman had decided she wanted to die within a woodland setting. The design of the suicide pod is intended to resemble that of a spaceship, Nitschke says, in order to give users the feel that they are traveling to the “great beyond.” Read More
Interview with BBC Radio Solent
From the Bishop
After reading about my 12th anniversary of Ordination as a Bishop in last week’s e-News, I was contacted by BBC Radio Solent asking for a short interview, so on Sunday 29th September, I spoke with Katie Tyler on her Sunday morning programme on BBC Radio Solent about my 40 years as a priest and 12 years as the Bishop of Portsmouth. You can listen to it here. [Image: Visit Portsmouth]
You can continue to read this issue in full here.
