The art of dying was the title of an article written by the late Maurice Eminyan SJ in The Times of March 21, 1997. How I miss his articles. I used to look forward every week to his contributions which were always of an elevated nature that touched our daily lives with a general optimistic outlook based on trust in God’s goodness.

In the context of the latest topic to hit our island – euthanasia – under the guise of mercy killing, Fr Eminyan’s words should cause us to pause and reflect on the real scope of life and why we should look at death with a sense of hope.

He wrote: “While I was studying abroad as a Jesuit novice, I remained deeply impressed one day by the reflections made by one of the priests who had just returned from assisting his sick and dying father and celebrating his funeral. What struck him most, he told us, was the peace which accompanied his dying father during the last moments. Then he remarked: ‘It is indeed worth leading a good life, if only to ensure a happy death.’  These words have always remained impressed on my mind, even now after more than 50 years.”

■ Santiago de Compostela: At last I did the journey which had been at the back of my mind for years. It was all I expected and hoped for, and more. They were four very short days in the heat of August while the countryside from where we came by coach in Portugal was aflame with forest fires.

We reached Santiago de Compostela in the evening and immediately after depositing our luggage and things in our room, we proceeded to tour the medieval city. What an experience!

The air was cool and invigorating after the heat of Portugal. The entire city is a walled fortress that contains many famous old buildings and monuments foremost among them the beautiful ancient cathedral where the remains of the Apostle James are found.

For those, like me, who could not make the long exhausting walk, the visit was still a most extraordinary and spiritual experience

In the middle of the 11th century the site became (and still is) a pan-European place of pilgrimage. The Camino de Santiago became a main pilgrimage route (after Rome and Jerusalem). In 2010, Pope Benedict XVI underwent a ceremonial pilgrimage to the site and revived world interest in it.

Each year hundreds of thousands of people walk in the footsteps of pilgrims of the Middle Ages. The most famous route is the Camino Frances, a journey of 778 kilometres from the borders of France and Spain with stunning scenery all the way.

For those, like myself, who could not make the long exhausting walk, the visit was still a most extraordinary and spiritual experience: “For everything there is a season and a time for every purpose under heaven” (Ecclesiasticus 3:1).

■ Churchill’s Europe: When I visited the Council of Europe in Strasbourg for the first time in the late 1960s, in the corridors of the old building (now mostly replaced) leading to the main conference hall, there were a number of framed photos on the walls depicting events of great importance in the march towards European unity and the founding of the Council of Europe.

One of these photos showed Churchill addressing students at Zurich University in 1946. I have traced the speech and in the context of Brexit some quotes therefrom would seem very relevant today.

He said: “I wish to speak about the tragedy of Europe, this noble continent, the home of all great parent races of the Western world, the foundation of Christian faith and ethics, the origin of most of the culture, arts, philosophy and science both of ancient and modern times …

“Why should there not be a European group which could give a sense of enlarged patriotism and common citizenship to the distracted peoples of this mighty continent?

“… If Europe is to be saved from infinite misery, and indeed from final doom, there must be this act of faith in the European family, this act of oblivion against all crimes and follies of the past… I am now going to say something that will astonish you.

“The first step in the recreation of the European family must be a partnership between France and Germany… The structure of the United States of Europe will be such as to make material strength of one single state less important … Under and within that world concept we must recreate the European family in a regional structure called, it may be, the United States of Europe, and the first practical step will be to form the Council of Europe.”

That was greatness with political foresight at its very peak. Everything proceeded as Churchill envisaged on that memorable day in Zurich, even the central role that the cooperation between France and Germany had to play in stabilising Europe.

The Council of Europe founded in 1949 became the foundation stone of the future European Union. All this until Mr Farage and Co. with their populist and vague rhetoric came into the scene.

What a pity.