These days we have learned of two news items that occurred in Catalonia, both very difficult to digest: the abuse of a child, allegedly caused by its parents, and the euthanasia that the woman who had requested it finally received and that her father had been preventing in the courts for almost two years. These are not just any two news items. And, precisely because they attract our attention, we cannot dwell on the morbid and must take them very seriously. And that means avoiding summary judgments without foundation and obvious statements of no interest.
Because these news items have specific protagonists but speak of ourselves much more than it seems. They reveal the evil that those who consider themselves good are capable of doing, horror in its probably most unforgivable version, personal and family traumas not overcome in the face of which someone does not want to continue living, what the euthanasia law says, what precautions it contains, what we would do if we found ourselves in that situation, or the fact that many Christians position themselves in opposition to those who call themselves "Christian lawyers".
It reminded me of the case of Gisèle Pelicot, who with her bravery in facing the trial forced us to look at the horrible behavior of her husband and the men who raped her while she slept sedated. Let's take advantage of the harshness of these news items to talk about them calmly, to propose an informed debate to minors who will soon cease to be so and enter the age of full criminal responsibility. Approaching these news items with a desire to understand them and to know more about society and ourselves, with more silence than outbursts and hasty conclusions, is the only adult approach.
