Pope Criticizes Assisted Dying Legalization in Various Countries as 'Fake Compassion'

Pope Leo XIV has strongly criticized assisted dying, which is being legalized in France and several other countries, calling it a "fake compassion" that goes against morality.

According to AP and AFP reports, on the 27th (local time), the third day of his visit to France, the Pope visited a patient care facility in the Catholic pilgrimage site of Lourdes to comfort those suffering and emphasize the dignity of human life.

The Pope stated, "No man-made law should allow dignity to be lost," adding, "We must resist the temptation to induce death disguised as fake compassion."

The Pope further emphasized, "It is impossible to consider the induction of death as normal," and noted that "what is legal is not necessarily moral."

Assisted dying is when a terminally ill patient chooses an artificial death with medical assistance.

Countries such as Australia, Belgium, Canada, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain, Switzerland, and certain US states permit assisted dying, and the French parliament also passed a bill regarding it this summer.

(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)
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