SW News: The President of the Polish Bishops’ Conference, Archbishop Stanisław Gądecki, has written a letter to Cardinal Vincent Nichols, president of the Episcopal Conference of England and Wales, asking for his help to save the life of a Polish man “sentenced to death by starvation” in Plymouth.

He stated in his letter that the decision taken by the British court, to stop giving food and water to the hospitalized man with brain injury, has “shaken” the Polish people.

Though the man’s wife and children, who live in England, have agreed with the British court’s decision, his mother, two sisters and niece, have objected to it.

“The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg has repeatedly refused their complaint, which allows the hospital to continue the procedure of taking this patient’s life,” he added.

The archbishop noted in his letter that the Polish government has assured that it would cover the costs of treatment and transport of the man. However, the British court does not agree to transport the patient as the journey may be life-threatening.

Archbishop Stanisław Gądecki recalled the words of Pope St. John Paul II in Evangelium Vitae where the Pope says, “A person who, because of illness, handicap or, more simply, just by existing, compromises the well-being or life-style of those who are more favored, tends to be looked upon as an enemy to be resisted or eliminated. In this way a kind of 'conspiracy against life' is unleashed.”

“I turn to Your Eminence – the President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales – asking for your help in this difficult situation and to take steps towards saving the life of our compatriot,” wrote the archbishop concluding his letter.