In response to the concerns for the rising numbers of incarcerated Canadians asking to end their lives by medical assistance in dying (MAiD), Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Toronto has brought together two organizations that serve the marginalized of society in a unique collaboration to provide end-of-life care for prisoners.

With a contribution of $15,000, Catholic Charities has provided the financial groundwork for Dismas and Journey Home to work together to meet the need for hospice care for prisoners. 

Opened in 2018, Journey Home Hospice is a palliative care facility in downtown Toronto that provides a home for the homeless in the last days of life. The Fellowship of Dismas is a network of small groups in southern Ontario that accompanies former prisoners as they take steps to reintegrate into the community.

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Fr. Matt Durham, director of Hospice Palliative Care and Community Development for the Saint Elizabeth Foundation, reports the new program is off to a good start.

“We had our first patient transition into Journey Home Hospice through this program and it’s been seamless,” said Durham.“The volunteers from Dismas were able to visit the patient in the hospice and continue journeying with them as they moved towards end-of-life.” 

While most of their rights are forfeit, Canadian prisoners retain a right that is unique in the world. They have the right to die. 

For those involved in prison ministry, offering quality end-of-life care for prisoners with terminal illnesses is understood as not only a work of mercy but also as a small step towards providing an alternative to MAiD. 

Deacon Paul Bar, president of the charity that supports the Dismas Fellowship, told The Catholic Register that “one of the major reasons people say they choose MAiD is because they don't want to be a burden or they don't want to be alone.”

“The halfway houses and the prisons don't have the facilities to handle this kind of specialized palliative care and accompaniment. I think the concern is that prisoners would look at MAiD as being a pretty viable alternative to dying alone in prison or on the streets.”

With an aging prison population, the number of prisoners requesting MAiD continues to go up. According to Correctional Service Canada, there have been 40 requests and 11 MAiD procedures carried out since euthanasia was legalized in 2016. Almost half of both requests and procedures took place in the past two years.

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Chaplain Juliane Martin, director of spiritual care at a group of Toronto transitional homes for former federal prison inmates, was one of the team that accompanied the first patient referred by Dismas to Journey Home. Martin stresses the need for Christian organizations to offer real alternatives to prisoners at the end of their life.

“The idea of coming out leads them to question what they are coming out to. They don't have family members that are waiting for them, either because their family has passed away or they're completely disenfranchised from their family and friends,” said Martin. “I think what ends up happening is they stay in prison longer than they should, and then there aren't options for them. I think some people might choose MAiD because they really believe that's the best choice.”

Martin says she doesn’t argue for or against MAiD with her clientele.

“I think it is like whenever you're trying to talk to somebody who has suicidal ideation. You don't just focus on why they shouldn't. You talk about why they should live.”

Martin says that providing quality palliative care with spiritual accompaniment for prisoners is a way to answer the “why” question.

“One individual that I journeyed with had not spoken to his brother in a very, very long time, and his brother was able to be at his bedside when he passed. I was able to be there too, and I am still in contact with the family. That wouldn't have happened if he hadn't gotten out.”

For both Martin and Bar, there is a Gospel imperative that is laid on all Christians to care for the sick and visit the imprisoned.

“We're all called to love our neighbour, to serve our neighbour even when it's extremely uncomfortable, even when it's easy to judge,” said Bar.

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“There is hope to be had, but it's really hard to foster hope behind the prison walls,” said Martin.

Both are thankful for the work of Journey Home, for the new collaboration with Friends of Dismas and for the message of hope it provides.