Vatican City, Sep 20, 2019 / 07:02 am
Pope Francis told a group of Italian doctors Friday they must resist the temptation to participate in assisted suicide or euthanasia, which trades the dignity of the patient for a "false compassion."
"It is important that the doctor does not lose sight of the singularity of each patient, with his dignity and fragility. A man or a woman to accompany with conscience, with intelligence and heart, especially in the most serious situations," the pope said Sept. 20.
"With this attitude, one can and must reject the temptation – induced also by legislative changes – to use medicine to support a possible desire for death by the patient, providing assistance to suicide or causing death directly with euthanasia."
Euthanasia or assisted suicide are "hasty paths," and not an expression of a person's freedom, as they might seem, he continued, adding that to be asked to help cause the premature death of a patient is a "discarding of the patient" and "false compassion."