Pope Leo XIV denounces assisted dying as 'false compassion' at Lourdes

Pope Leo XIV condemned the legalisation of medically assisted death as immoral “false compassion” on Sunday, doubling down on Catholic teaching on the sanctity of life during a visit to Lourdes, the French shrine associated with miraculous healings.

“It is precisely in the name of this inalienable dignity of the human person that we must reject the temptation to cause death under the guise of false compassion,” Leo told about 5,000 sick pilgrims and caregivers at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes. “What is legal is not necessarily moral.”

The Pope also told the sick that “no human law should ever make you lose the certainty of your dignity.” His remarks were met with applause and shouts of “Bravo”.

France this summer legalised assisted suicide and euthanasia for adults with incurable illnesses, becoming the fifth European country to do so after Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Spain. The law followed years of parliamentary debate, with French bishops strongly opposed.

On the third day of his visit to France, Leo celebrated Mass before some 150,000 people, many in wheelchairs, on the prairie next to Lourdes’ main basilica, and met seven survivors of clergy sexual abuse. He is the third pope to visit Lourdes, after Benedict XVI in 2008 and John Paul II in 1983 and 2004.