French deputies must examine a text on the end of life in February, thus relaunching a series that has lasted for several years on this particularly sensitive social subject.
Pope Francis spoke against euthanasia at the Vatican on Saturday before parliamentarians from the south of France, where a bill envisages the right to a “assisted dying”. “I dare to hope that, also with your contribution, the debate on the essential question of the end of life can be held in truth”underlined Pope Francis, whose remarks were reported in a Vatican press release.
“It’s about supporting life until its natural end through greater development of palliative care”he told his audience, whom he warmly thanked. “This pilgrimage to Rome is courageous and testifies to your desire to unify your life as a believer with that of a responsible man or woman. THANKS!” said the pope, who is due to visit Corsica, a French island in the Mediterranean, on December 15.
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Legalize assisted suicide
The Argentine Jesuit, who will celebrate his 88th birthday two days after this trip, will arrive in Ajaccio at 9:00 a.m. (08:00 GMT) and leave shortly after 6:00 p.m. He will deliver two speeches and preside over a mass in the afternoon at the Casone green theater, before meeting with President Emmanuel Macron. French deputies must examine a text on the end of life in February, thus relaunching a series that has lasted for several years on this particularly sensitive social subject.
The previous government had, after long months of gestation, put on the table a text providing for legalizing assisted suicide and in certain cases, euthanasia, described as“active assistance in dying”. This text, which attached strict conditions, had reached the National Assembly but its examination was interrupted by the dissolution and the elections of mid-2024. The fate of this project is therefore pending, while the current government brings together the center and the right, the latter being historically very resistant to the legalization of euthanasia and assisted suicide.
On September 23, 2023, on the return flight from his trip to Marseille, in the south of France, the pope, questioned by AFP about the bill in the country, spoke firmly against “a hideous form of compassion”. «We don't play with life. Whether it is the law prohibiting a child from growing in its mother's womb or the law on euthanasia in cases of illness or old age. he said.
France
