Pope Francis condemned assisted suicide as an unacceptable deviation from medical ethics on Wednesday as Italy’s parliament resumed talks on a law to regulate it.
Speaking at his general audience, Francis praised palliative care aimed at helping terminally ill patients live as comfortably and humanely as possible.
“But we have to be careful to not confuse this help with unacceptable deviations that lead to killing,” he said. “We must accompany death, not provoke death or help any kind of suicide.”
In 2019, Italy’s Constitutional Court partially decriminalised assisted suicide under certain conditions if local health authorities and an ethics board approved. But the court also said parliament should pass a law regulating it.
