A Canadian cardinal has condemned proposals to permit the euthanasia even of children, telling Catholics the plans should “shock us to the core”.
Cardinal Thomas Collins, the Archbishop of Toronto, said moves to set up a legal framework for a highly permissive euthanasia regime in Canada represented not only an assault on the sanctity of life but also on religious liberty.
In a video message played in 225 parishes of his archdiocese on Sunday, he urged Catholics to do all they could to persuade their MPs to reject the recommendations of a group advising the government on the content of the forthcoming legislation.
He asked them to write to politicians asking them to “protect the vulnerable” as well as the rights of individuals and institutions to provide healthcare without “having to compromise their moral convictions”.
“Physicians across our country who have devoted their lives to healing patients will soon be asked to do the exact opposite,” the cardinal said in the video.
“They will not be asked to ease their suffering by providing them with treatment and loving care but by putting them to death.
“In fact, killing a patient will no longer be considered a crime but will be seen as healthcare, complete with legislation to regulate it.”
The law would not just affect a small number of people, the cardinal said, because it would be binding on all publicly funded institutions, including Catholic hospitals and care homes, and would deny healthcare workers the right of conscientious objection.
“No other country in the world requires such a violation of conscience,” he said.
Vatican praises Cardinal Pell for child abuse testimony
Cardinal George Pell’s testimony to Australia’s child abuse commission was “dignified and coherent”, a Vatican spokesman has said.
Fr Federico Lombardi, director of the Holy See press office, said in a statement: “Cardinal Pell must be accorded the appropriate acknowledgement for his dignified and coherent personal testimony.”
Fr Lombardi said the cardinal’s appearance before the commission had given “an objective and lucid picture of the errors committed in many ecclesial environments (this time in Australia) during the past decades. This is certainly useful with a view to a common ‘purification of memory’.”
Cardinal Pell has come under pressure after allegations that he mishandled abuse allegations earlier in his career. He has repeatedly denied the claims, saying that others kept him in the dark.
The cardinal said last week that he would only resign from his position in charge of reforming Vatican finances if the Pope asked him to. A resignation “would be taken as an admission of guilt”, the cardinal told Sky News Australia.
The hearings took place via video link over four days and a total of 19 hours last week.
Sin is a blindness, says Francis
Sin is a “blindness of the spirit” but Confession heals, Pope Francis said at a penitential liturgy last week.
The liturgy, at St Peter’s Basilica, was part of the worldwide 24 Hours for the Lord initiative. After the service Francis went to Confession and then heard confessions himself. Sin “impoverishes us and isolates us”, he said, but Confession was a way of recovering our “spiritual worth … our dignity”.
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