The allusion of Léon XIV against the legalization of euthanasia in France

It is rare for a pope or that the Vatican takes directly part in a political debate in progress in a country. Nevertheless, by their words, declarations and messages, the pontiff sovereigns can refer to it and thus express their position.

This is what Léon XIV did on Wednesday June 4, during the general hearing held in Place Saint-Pierre, at the Vatican. By welcoming French -speaking pilgrims – in Italian – he called to “defend the intrinsic dignity of any human person”, even though “our world struggles to find a value in human life, even in its last hour”.

The choice of these words and the fact that they are not found in greetings to the pilgrims of other languages, are all clear signs that these are a direct allusion to the current debate in France on the end of life, aimed at legalizing assisted suicide and euthanasia. While the National Assembly approved these measures at first reading on Tuesday, May 27, Léon XIV thus comes to express his disagreement.

The pope takes up the traditional position of the church, opposing at any lethal provision at the end of life and rather defending his accompaniment to his “natural end”. This position had already been defended by Pope Francis, especially during his exchanges with President Emmanuel Macron.

“An ethical, social and medical regression”

If Pope Léon XIV did not directly refer to the current debate in France, he is in line with the hexagonal episcopate. On several occasions and by various channels, the French bishops have clearly positioned themselves against the “end of life” bill. The bishops of Île-de-France have, for example, denounced an “anthropological rupture which would create the conditions of a crime against dignity, of a crime against fraternity, of a crime against life”.

“Legalizing the administered death will not be progress, but an ethical, social and medical regression,” said Mgr Éric de Moulins-Beaufort, president, for a few more weeks, of the Conference of Bishops of France, in a platform common to the country’s worship officials.

Approved at first reading by the National Assembly, the “end of life” bill, carried by the centrist deputy Olivier Falorni, will now continue its legislative path in the Senate, where it should be examined in the fall. If it is not adopted in the same terms as by deputies – which seems unlikely – it will return to the National Assembly in second reading.