Karlsruhe formulated a far-reaching right to assisted suicide earlier this year. It is about nothing less than the limits of self-determination. Best-selling author Ferdinand von Schirach has written a play on the subject.
Das Erste has filmed it and will broadcast the drama on 23. November (20.3 p.m.) from. Ulrich Matthes plays the bishop who speaks out against suicide. In an interview with the Catholic News Agency (KNA), Mattes talks about his own stance on the ie.
CBA: Mr. Matthes, are you glad that the suppressed topic of dying is getting more attention again?
Matthes: As a result of the federal trial court's ruling and the play or film, the ie of dying is becoming more virulent in society. I hope that many people will be inspired to form an opinion.
CBA: How do you rate the verdict?
Matthes: When the Federal Constitutional Court in February strengthened the right to determine the time of one's own death, I spontaneously welcomed the ruling. But then the questions start. The ruling not only grants seriously ill patients the right to assisted suicide by a doctor. It could include people who are in a complicated personal situation: who are heartbroken, facing bankruptcy or severely depressed
Of course, it would be good if these people could be prevented from committing suicide in the first place. I have doubts in which concrete case doctors should provide assistance to suicide. I am usually rather opinionated and can clearly say yes or no. With this topic I find that difficult.
CBA: Don't the experiences in Switzerland and Belgium show that euthanasia for the seriously ill works?
Matthes: "Works" is a strange word in this context. I am in favor of it being invoked in such cases. But our film is about a 78-year-old who is not seriously ill, but tired of life. There should be a way for him to voluntarily depart life with dignity. But it is a complicated question, which can be decided only in individual cases.
CBA: Ultimately, no religion or law can prohibit people from killing themselves either…
Matthes: Of course not. The violent suicide is terrible. Hopefully we are empathetic enough to put ourselves in the desperate situation of people who take their own lives violently. In that respect, I don't want to deny in principle the possibility of giving them legal access to a means of gently gliding over into death. The prerequisite could perhaps be that offers of counseling or treatment could not diade them from suicidal ideation. But to regulate this by law is very difficult. I would not like to be in the skin of the deputies.
CBA: But doesn't every regulation undermine the role of God as Creator, who also ends life??
Matthes: That's the argument of the bishop I play, and I have respect for that. Even if I do not share it. I myself am not a believer.
CBA: Suicide was normal in ancient Rome, the Bible lacks the explicit prohibition; only later did it flow into Catholic teaching, probably as a consequence of suicides…
Matthes: Even Catholics often know no other way out. I have great respect for people of faith, no matter how they live their faith. But I have a problem with the Catholic Church as an institution. In many questions it is far removed from the reality of man – I only mention topics such as contraception, abortion, the role of women in society and in the church, the attitude to homosexuality.
CBA: Doesn't the church have to defend its faith?
Matthes: She is free to do so. I only say against it that I consider their strict, dogmatic attitudes worthy of criticism.
KNA: Depression has increased in recent years, as has loneliness. Isn't there an increasing lack of the social network today to show people alternatives to suicidal thoughts?
Matthes: I'm not sure that's so true across the board. Faith can be a source of consolation and courage for many people in desperate situations. I just don't. I find my comfort, of which every human being is in need, in my social environment. With other people it may be full of holes. That's why one 30-year-old with heartbreak may find solace in religion or family and friends, while another lacks that support.
Do we want to make it easy for her to kill herself with medical help? I have my doubts. But that would be the danger if the verdict of the Federal Constitutional Court were to be cast one-to-one into law. It should be modified by the Bundestag.
CBA: Isn't the topic as a whole then too complex to answer "yes" or "no" in the subsequent public vote??
Matthes: Actually, I do. The topic is existential and affects each of us – regardless of whether we have had suicidal thoughts, are having them at the moment, or will have them. The question of how we want to die arises for everyone. The material invites us to discuss it, even controversially, and to be tolerant of other positions. This kind of tolerance would suit us well in other political and social discussions as well.