The Catholic Church in Ireland will reiterate its opposition to ‘assisted dying’ as it celebrates its annual Day for Life Sunday this weekend.

A special message commemorating the day says there has been much discussion about assisted suicide and euthanasia with a view to possibly legalising it. However, every country that has gone down this routes see numbers availing of it expanding along with grounds for eligibility.

Opposing such proposals, Bishop Kevin Doran said, people who are coming towards the end of their lives are vulnerable, and recent research shows that many feel themselves a burden on their loved ones and wider society.

“We are called to defend this gift of life to its natural end and to protect vulnerable citizens from a culture that could pressure them into assisted suicide”, he said.

“Far from abandoning people who are living with terminal illness, we need to surround them with the kind of love that enables them to live life as fully and as richly as possible for the time that is left to them”.

https://www.catholicbishops.ie/2024/06/11/bishop-doran-far-from-abandoning-people-with-terminal-illness-we-need-to-surround-them-with-love-that-enables-them-to-live-life-as-fully-as-possible/