“We cannot remain convinced by an article published today in La Civiltà Cattolica on the subject of assisted suicide norms,” the Jan. 13 statement said. “It is surprising, in fact, that an authoritative publication, from which one expects an echo of the Magisterium of the Church, risks positions that — albeit indirectly — may in fact give field to that ‘culture of waste,’ from whose negative effects Pope Francis constantly calls out.”
In the statement, the organizations argue that the assisted suicide bill also gives an opening to the legalization of euthanasia in Italy.
“The protection of life and the support of those who suffer is a battle of reason and civilization, which should, therefore, affect everyone, and should certainly move those who bear in name the ideal of a Catholic civilization,” the statement continued.
In the La Civiltà Cattolica article, Father Carlo Casalone, SJ, a member of the Pontifical Academy for Life and a moral theology professor at Rome’s Pontifical Gregorian University, argues that what he considers to be a serious cause for concern in a proposed referendum on euthanasia and assisted suicide in Italy, as a reason for lawmakers to support a bill for assisted suicide legislation.
The referendum, which seeks to decriminalize assisted suicide for adults, has a “huge flaw,” according to Casalone.
Both assisted suicide and euthanasia are illegal in Italy, where the criminal law says, “anyone who causes the death of a man, with his consent, is punished with imprisonment from six to fifteen years.”
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