Pope Condemns Assisted Dying As False Compassion

Pope Leo XIV has condemned the legalisation of medically assisted death as immoral “false compassion”, reaffirming Catholic teaching on the sanctity of life during a visit to Lourdes.

Speaking on Sunday at the French pilgrimage site associated with reported miracles, Leo denounced attempts to permit an end to life for people deemed fatally ill. He linked the debate to his native United States and other countries where similar legislation is being debated or introduced, framing the issue as one about the dignity of vulnerable people rather than medical practice alone.

Assisted Dying Law Debate

France has grappled with the end-of-life question for years, culminating in recently adopted legislation allowing adults with incurable illnesses to receive lethal medication. The National Assembly also enshrined abortion as a constitutional right in 2024, and later approved an end-of-life bill.

Leo’s comments on Sunday were repeated on a third day of his France trip. Earlier, he had signalled his stance against abortion and assisted dying, and his messaging drew attention amid large gatherings for his programme.

He said that the rejection of causing death under the “guise of false compassion” should come precisely because of “inalienable” human dignity, adding that what is legal is not necessarily moral.

Catholic doctrine, which Leo reiterated during Mass at Lourdes, holds that all human life must be protected from conception until natural death, underpinning opposition to abortion, euthanasia and medically assisted dying.

The pope had also previously criticised a medical-aid-in-dying law that took effect in Illinois on 12 September, where it is the 13th US state to permit such measures.

Meeting Clergy Abuse Survivors

During his visit, Leo also met seven survivors of clergy sexual abuse, an appointment that has become a routine feature of papal trips abroad. Vatican officials said the goal was to acknowledge the Church’s failure to protect children and other vulnerable people from predatory clergy.

The encounter included group and one-on-one meetings and lasted nearly two hours, the Vatican said. It described the meeting as one in which the pope listened to accounts of pain and suffering, including cases marked by the complicity or silence of those who might have been able to intervene, and encouraged actions to prevent recurrence.

One survivor, Jean-Marie Delbos, told journalists afterwards that Leo had listened and asked for information about his case. “It was extraordinary,” he said. “I never thought I would have a pope before me.”

Leo’s Lourdes Mass drew crowds including people in wheelchairs. Earlier, his visit to France had already included a Mass in Paris at Place de la Concorde attended by 800,000 people, according to organisers.

In talks with French bishops on Sunday morning, Leo praised their response for victims and urged them to continue. He also acknowledged that the decline in priestly vocations in France is linked to the scandal, saying that for vocations to flourish, priests must be welcomed, accepted and loved.

The bishops’ conference spokesperson, Monsignor Pierre-Antoine Bozo, said the pope deliberately kept the victim meeting small so that it could remain intimate and focused on listening.

Lourdes, Miracles And The Rupnik Case

Lourdes became a major place of pilgrimage after the Catholic Church approved visions of the Virgin Mary reported there by a young girl in 1858. The site attracts millions of pilgrims each year, including sick and disabled believers who come hoping for healing linked to the spring water in the Lourdes grotto. The Church has recognised 72 cures at Lourdes as “miraculous”.

More recently, the site has also been used for meetings connected with survivors of clergy abuse. Leo’s visit also brought renewed attention to an unresolved case involving religious mosaic artist Marko Rupnik, whose work appears in churches worldwide.

Rupnik is on trial in a Vatican court after more than two dozen women accused him of psychological, spiritual and sexual abuse starting in the 1990s, including during the creation of artworks. Vatican proceedings have continued after a canonical trial was ordered in 2024 following media attention.

At Lourdes, the basilica façade of Notre Dame du Rosaire was covered in 2025 by Bishop Jean-Marc Micas. He said the decision was made so that abuse victims coming to Lourdes for healing would not be forced to see the mosaics. On Sunday, Leo passed the covered panels in his popemobile, as the areas were draped with mustard-coloured curtains fixed with plastic ties.

Join the discussion?

28 September 2026

View full article