Pope Leo Condemns Assisted Dying as He Visits France’s Famous Healing Shrine

Pope Leo XIV has condemned medically assisted dying as “false compassion” during a visit to Lourdes, the French Catholic shrine famous for its association with reported miraculous cures.

Speaking on Sunday during his visit to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes, the Pope said human dignity must be protected even when people are suffering from serious or incurable illnesses. He argued that causing death cannot be justified as an expression of compassion.

“In the name of this inalienable dignity of the human person, we must reject the temptation to cause death under the guise of false compassion,” Leo said, drawing applause from the crowd. He also stressed that what is legal is not necessarily moral.

The remarks came as Leo visited France on the third day of his first major trip to the country. His visit to Lourdes placed particular emphasis on sick and disabled people, with about 150,000 pilgrims attending Mass at the shrine on Sunday. Many of those present were in wheelchairs or using crutches.

The Pope told sick pilgrims that their disabilities and suffering did not diminish their dignity. He also urged healthcare workers to focus on caring for people in pain and promoting palliative care rather than measures aimed at ending a patient’s life.

Leo’s comments come after France recently adopted legislation creating a legal framework for assisted dying for adults suffering from incurable illnesses under specified conditions. The measure followed years of political debate and has faced opposition from the Catholic Church and some medical professionals.

Under the French legislation, eligible patients can request a lethal substance that can either be self-administered or, when they are physically unable to do so, administered by a doctor or nurse. Supporters have argued that the measure gives people suffering from incurable conditions greater control over the circumstances of their deaths.

The Pope had already expressed concern about assisted dying earlier during his French visit. In an address to French President Emmanuel Macron and other political leaders in Paris on Friday, he warned against developments that could undermine the protection of human life and specifically referred to the possibility of arranging one’s own death.

Lourdes carries particular significance for Leo’s message because the sanctuary attracts millions of pilgrims, many of them sick or disabled people seeking spiritual or physical healing. The Catholic Church says it has officially recognised 72 cures associated with Lourdes as miraculous. The shrine became a major pilgrimage destination following reports of visions of the Virgin Mary by Bernadette Soubirous in 1858.

During his homily, Leo described Lourdes as a place where the “beauty and sanctity of life” are proclaimed, saying that life should be welcomed as a precious gift. He also told sick pilgrims that they were not a burden but an important part of the Church and wider human community.

The Pope’s visit to Lourdes also comes against the backdrop of the Catholic Church’s continuing reckoning with sexual-abuse scandals in France. Leo was scheduled to meet seven survivors of clergy sexual abuse during his visit, while French bishops have faced continuing pressure to strengthen accountability and support for victims.

A 2021 independent investigation estimated that about 330,000 children had been abused by Catholic clergy and lay workers in France over seven decades. The French bishops’ conference has since established compensation and safeguarding measures for victims.

Leo’s Lourdes appearance therefore combined his defence of Catholic teaching on the sanctity of life with an emphasis on caring for people experiencing illness and suffering, as France continues to debate the implications of its new assisted-dying law.