CNA Staff, Feb 19, 2021 / 07:35 am
An Austrian archbishop warned Catholics on Wednesday that a top court's ruling on assisted suicide is "just the beginning."
In a Lenten pastoral letter, released on Feb. 17, Archbishop Franz Lackner said that Catholics could not remain silent after the constitutional court issued a judgment in December that a ban on assisted suicide was unconstitutional. The court ordered the government to lift the ban in 2021.
Lackner, the president of Austria's Catholic bishops' conference, wrote: "Permitting assisted suicide is always just the beginning. The danger of further steps, such as the introduction of euthanasia on demand, will also become virulent in our country."
He added: "What is to be done? We cannot possibly remain silent. Despite our powerlessness -- the decision of the constitutional court is final -- we are getting involved when it now comes to shaping the law."