Canadian archbishop on assisted suicide: ‘It is a travesty’

CNA Staff, Oct 4, 2024 / 14:15 pm

Toronto Archbishop Francis Leo told EWTN News this week that Catholics “must keep firm in our faith, proclaiming the gospel of life and a civilization of love” as assisted suicide grows in popularity around the world.

Physician-assisted suicide was legalized in Canada under the “Medical Aid in Dying” (MAID) program in June 2016. In the U.S. assisted suicide is legal in 10 states including Oregon, Washington, and Colorado as well as Washington, D.C.

“It is a travesty, honestly, that euthanasia is going strong,” Leo told EWTN News President and COO Montse Alvarado on “EWTN Pro-Life Weekly” on Thursday. 

“Unfortunately, in different parts of the country more than others, [it is] not only legalized but being promoted,” the prelate said.

MAID is the fifth-leading cause of death in Canada, tied with cerebrovascular diseases, and the program is expanding. It is “the world’s fastest-growing assisted-dying program,” according to August research by the Christian think tank Cardus. This summer a Canadian nonprofit filed a legal challenge to allow physician-assisted suicide for those suffering from mental illness.  

But Leo said that assisted suicide and euthanasia are “not the answer.” 

“Thou shall not kill. Thou shall not kill, starting with yourself,” he said. “And we worship the Lord of life, and he is the Lord of life and death.” 

“‘The Lord has come that we might have life, and life in abundance,’” the archbishop said, citing John 10:10, which he described as “one of my favorite passages.” 

The prelate stressed the need “to live life abundantly here while we journey on earth and then enter into eternal life, the abundant life in heaven.”

“But as we are here, amidst the temptations that are around us, we must keep firm in our faith, proclaiming the gospel of life and a civilization of love, which is both at the beginning of life in the womb and the end of life, when people are so vulnerable and are tempted to suicide,” Leo continued. 

When asked how the Church is countering the physician-assisted suicide movement, Leo said that Canadian bishops are promoting palliative care and the sacredness of life. 

“Assisted suicide, euthanasia, medical aid and dying: It’s a travesty, [it] should never have taken place,” Leo continued. “We fought tooth and nail — the conference of Catholic bishops — and what we’re doing right now is we are helping people to realize that the only alternative is palliative care.”

The Canadian bishops promote Horizons of Hope, a toolkit for Catholic parishes on palliative care, which is a medical caregiving approach that strives to improve quality of life and mitigate suffering for people with serious or terminal illnesses.

“We’re encouraging our communities to set up groups in the parish to help people understand the evils of euthanasia and assisted suicide and the benefits of palliative care within an even larger context of life and the gift of life,” Leo explained. 

Leo admitted that the mission to promote life is a challenge.

“It’s always a challenge because the culture is not very welcoming to that — but that doesn’t scare us at all,” he said. 

“But it is a challenge, and one to which we are engaged in, and with the strength of the insights of the Holy Spirit, I think we will definitely do our best,” he said.

“I’ve already heard stories of people who, because someone went to their deathbed and someone spoke to them about faith and about the love of God, they changed their mind — that’s what we’re called to do to be ministers of the Lord, of the new covenant and of life.”

“Just this past summer, we had the conference of bishops in the Archdiocese of Toronto, in conjunction with the Pontifical Academy for Life, [put on] a wonderful international interfaith symposium on palliative care,” Leo continued.

“We’re looking forward to the fruits of that: How to strengthen the Church’s proclamation of the gospel of life and encourage people to understand the giftedness of life, the sacredness of life given by God,” he said.

“And so the challenge is there,” Leo said. “But we’re up to it.”