Article describes a number of AIDS related outreach projects operated within the diocese of Toronto for local populations and overseas in Africa. Includes the story of the Rev. Doug Willoughby, an Anglican priest who is himself HIV-positive and the diocese's involvement in the Philip Aziz Centre, a non-profit home hospice for people living with AIDS. Describes the work of The Teresa Group, founded by Penelope Holeton, an Anglican lay woman, to help children in Toronto living with AIDS, and also the fundraising work of St. Clement's, Eglinton, which has contributed to the work of the Stephen Lewis Foundation and which in August 2006 "held a reception for grandmothers from Kenya who [were] in Toronto for the International AIDS Conference and the Stephen Lewis Foundation's Grandmothers' Gathering".
"When it comes to Bill C-7, which expanded the criteria for medical assistance in dying (MAID), Dr. Jonathan Reggler is unequivocally in favour. 'It comes down to autonomy and whether a person should be allowed the ability to exercise autonomy', says Reggler, who is co-chair of the clinicians' advisory council for Dying with Dignity Canada, a group advocating for people's rights to MAID. 'There are people who suffer intolerably from long term conditions who do not wish their lives to continue .. I and the majority of the MAID assessor and provider community, and the majority of Canadians, think [Bill C-7] is a good thing'" (p. 1).
"David Lepofsky, a law professor at Osgoode Hall, disability rights advocate and former crown prosecutor, also has strong opinions about the bill. But he disagrees with Reggler. 'It's the social safety net that they wrap around your neck and pull until you stop breathing', Lepofsky says" (p. 8).
"'We're unusual among the mainline churches, many of which have taken an absolute negative stance', says Archbishop Linda Nicholls, primate of the Anglican Church of Canada. 'We've had Anglicans who have been very vocal in their public support for [MAID]. Rather than opposing MAID, the most recent document the church published on the subject, 2016's 'In Sure and Certain Hope', took an agnostic position, putting the emphasis on ministering to those who choose to access it. It laid out guidelines for clergy to provide pastoral care for parishioners who were going through the process of physician-assisted death. It also, Nicholls notes, asked questions about what realistic alternatives patients have available" (p. 8).
"The expansion of eligibility for MAID, says Lepofsky, raises a whole new set of concerns among his contacts in the disability rights community -- many of whom were already deeply sceptical of MAID to begin with (p. 8). "'The only people this targets are people with disabilities who are suffering', Lepofsky says. 'We need a lot more effort on how to make life worth living with disabilities, not a lot more effort on making people die instead of living with their disabilities'" (p. 9).
"One of the authors of 'In Sure and Certain Hope', Canon Douglas Graydon, spent much of his career ministering to patients who were dying of AIDS, including 12 years as a chaplain at Casey House hospice. That ministry gave him experience in end-of-life care and an understanding of why some patients would end things on their own terms rather than let an illness drag out their death. Graydon says he was one of the voices in the church calling for greater acceptance and compassion for MAID as a result" (p. 9). "Like Reggler, Graydon says there is no reason the legislation should not continue to be refined. .... 'There was always mean to be an 'In Sure and Certain Hope 2', and 3 and so on', he says. 'This is a critical area of discussion and I'd hate to see the church abandon it'" (p. 9).
The Rev. Doug Graydon is chaplain to Casey House, a 13-bed hospice for people with AIDS in downtown Toronto. "It is not easy being an Anglican priest in such a place. People with AIDS, particularly those who are homosexual, have experienced the church as a judgmental, rather than loving, community. Distrust characterizes their relationship with it."
"'All of us belong to God', said Canon Douglas Graydon to Archbishop Fred Hiltz, primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, at a gathering held to discuss same-sex marriage in the Canadian Church. 'The question is whether we belong to the church'. It was a question many LGBTQ Anglicans brought forward in a question and answer session that took place February 16 [2016], after a talk Hiltz gave following the 'queer Eucharist' service hosted monthly at St. John's Anglican Church, West Toronto". The event was attended by about 150 people. Speakers included: Canon Douglas Graydon, the Rev. Alison Kemper, the Rev. Joyce Barnett, Clayton Chrusch and Jessica Davis-Sydor. In answer to a question about his personal views on the issue, "Hiltz responded by saying that while he personally supports same-sex marriage in the Anglican church, his position as president of General Synod places limitations on what he can or cannot say as a representative of the Canadian church" (p. 13).
"In a nod to changing times, the Anglican Church of Canada's latest report on physician-assisted dying, rather than opposing the practice, recognizes it as a reality. The report offers reflections and resources around assisted dying and related issues, such as palliative care" (p. 1). The report, entitled "In Sure and Certain Hope: Resources to Assist Pastoral and Theological Approaches to Physician Assisted Dying" was prepared by the church's task force on physician-assisted death, chaired by Canon Eric Beresford. The report, released 9 June 2016, "opens with an introduction to the issue, and moves on to a discussion of related theological concerns and questions. It discusses how palliative and pastoral care ought to be provided to those facing the end of their lives. It includes suggested prayers and litanies and a list of books and other resources" (p. 9). "The report includes personal reflections by Anglican priests, including Canon Douglas Graydon, a member of the task force who also specialized in end-of-life care for more than 20 years" (p. 9).