Parish problems
Sir: Emma Thompson draws attention to a serious problem in the Church of England (‘Power to the parish’, 25 September). Why are they trying to make it easier to close down parishes when the parish is where the people are to whom the church must minister? The parish is also the major funder of the C of E through the generosity of its many local donors. If you take away the incumbent, you take away a major portion of the income for both parish and diocese.
One reason many parishes struggle to pay their parish share is because it has been swelled by the diocese to pay for the ever-growing bureaucracies. In most cases, parish share is at least 50 per cent greater than the actual cost of paying and housing an incumbent. The C of E’s latest proposals (GS 2222) make it easier to remove incumbents and close churches. This is madness. If the process cannot cope with the problem, then address the problem, not the process.
Stephen Billyeald
Pangbourne, Berkshire
A quick death
Sir: I was surprised to read that Joel Zivot (‘Last rights’, 18 September) believes that ‘assisted suicide is neither painless nor dignified’. As a veterinary surgeon with over four decades of experience, I have probably euthanised more than a thousand animals (dogs and cats, and during the BSE outbreak, cattle) using pentobarbital sodium. Provided that the correct dose is administered, the process is rapid. Importantly, the animal loses consciousness almost immediately (in seconds). That is followed by loss of respiratory and cardiac function, usually in less than a minute.
As far as the effect of pentobarbital on humans is concerned, vets are statistically much more likely to commit suicide, and often use this drug. A close friend chose this method of ending his own life.
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