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Pope Leo Blasts Assisted Dying at French Shrine

Pope Leo XIV used a visit to a famous French sanctuary on Sunday to condemn medically assisted death as immoral false compassion, tying his rejection of end-of-life legislation to core Catholic teachings on human dignity. Addressing crowds gathered at the holy site, the American pontiff waded directly into global legislative battles surrounding euthanasia and assisted suicide, just weeks after a new medical-aid-in-dying law took effect in his native Illinois and as France implements its own newly approved legislation for incurably ill adults. The papal visit combined high-stakes moral declarations against abortion and assisted dying with tense reckonings over the Catholic Church's ongoing clerical abuse scandals and architectural reminders of unaddressed predator priests.

The papal journey to France has drawn massive crowds, highlighted by an estimated 800,000 attendees at a prior Mass on Paris' Place de la Concorde as reported by Mainichi. On Sunday, Leo celebrated an open-air Mass before roughly 150,000 faithful—many seated in wheelchairs—on the prairie adjacent to the main basilica in Lourdes, a town globally celebrated for millions of annual pilgrims seeking healing spring water and where the church has officially authenticated 72 miraculous cures. Chicagotribune notes that the site's association with the frail and vulnerable rendered the pope's message against euthanasia particularly potent.

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On the contrary, it is precisely in the name of this inalienable dignity of the human person that we must reject the temptation to cause death under the guise of false compassion, Leo told the applause of the gathered pilgrims, adding that what is legal is not necessarily moral, according to Sfgate. The remarks directly target legislative shifts in both France, whose National Assembly enshrined abortion as a constitutional right and approved an end-of-life bill, and the United States, where Illinois became the 13th state to implement an aid-in-dying law.

Alongside his doctrinal addresses, the pontiff confronted the Church's domestic and institutional crises. Leo participated in a private, nearly two-hour encounter with seven survivors of clergy sexual abuse. While some participants praised the pope for listening closely to their individual histories, Global News highlighted an open letter published in Liberation ahead of the trip wherein victims criticized the secretive selection of the seven attendees and demanded that the hierarchy relinquish its dual role as both interested party and judge in abuse proceedings.

The visit also forced Leo to confront controversial clerical art inherited from his predecessor. The facade of the Notre Dame du Rosaire Basilica features mosaics designed by the Rev. Marko Rupnik, a Jesuit artist currently facing a Vatican trial over allegations of spiritual, psychological, and sexual abuse brought by more than two dozen women. Following a local decision by Lourdes Bishop Jean-Marc Micas to prevent abuse survivors from being forced to view the artwork during healing pilgrimages, the panels remain hidden behind mustard-colored curtains secured with plastic ties. Five women abused by Rupnik wrote to Leo prior to the visit, condemning the decades-long institutional silence surrounding their cases as a continuation of violence.

During a separate morning conference with French bishops, Leo praised ongoing independent compensation systems that have recommended payouts exceeding 20 million euros ($22.7 million) based on a 2021 independent report estimating that 3,000 priests and church workers abused 330,000 children over seven decades. However, the pontiff conceded that the resulting scandals have severely damaged priestly vocations across France by casting deep public suspicion on the priesthood.