Pope Leo criticizes assisted dying programs: 'False compassion'
· Toronto Sun
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Pope Leo XIV criticized the state legalization of assisted-dying programs, calling them an example of “false compassion.”
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The Holy Father, 71, made the comments Sunday on a trip to Lourdes during his four-day tour of France, CBS News reported.
One of the most visited Catholic shrines in the world, it’s said that the Virgin Mary made appearances there to St. Bernadette Soubirous in 1858, and it has since become a place of pilgrimage for the sick from all over the world.
The Pope’s visit comes after France recently legalized assisted dying.
Legal, but not moral: Pope
“It is precisely in the name of this inalienable dignity of the human person that we must reject the temptation to cause death under the guise of false compassion,” the Pope said. “What is legal is not necessarily moral.”
He stressed that those who live in “terrible pain” have a dignity that no law or algorithm can “eliminate,” and that even the most frail and vulnerable among us deserve respect. The Pope renewed his call that human life — from conception to natural death — must be protected and defended.
“Your crutches, your wheelchairs and your hidden tears are not obstacles; instead, they are the very place where you are fully respected and welcomed,” the Pope said. “Lourdes is blessed as a place for professing the beauty and sanctity of life, for life is welcomed here as a precious gift from God.”
Pope meets abuse survivors
The Pope also met with survivors of sexual abuse at the hands of the clergy, calling it “the painful scourge of abuse committed against minors by members of the clergy.” A 2021 report found that 330,000 children in France were abused by priests and lay leaders between 1950 and 2020. For decades, the Church has reckoned with the global and widespread sexual abuse of children, and the efforts made by senior members of the clergy to cover it up.
“The admission of our mistakes is indispensable for our spiritual growth,” Leo said. “In order to heal the deep wounds, infidelities and painful errors that have occurred within (the Church), we must humbly place ourselves under the Lord’s purifying gaze.”
France returns to Catholicism
France historically has been referred to as the “eldest daughter of the Church” due to its millennia-long Catholic tradition. That heritage has seen a revival in recent times, with converts — many of them young — increasingly disillusioned by deepening secular, liberal attitudes in that country. France is seeing a growing number of baptisms , both adult and infant. The unexpected trend seemingly even surprises the Holy Father himself.
“It may seem paradoxical that this phenomenon … is taking place against the backdrop of a society like that of France, which is marked by a deeply secularized culture,” the Pope said .