Pope Francis has criticised the approval of the decree on medically assisted death, considering that the Portuguese parliament has created a law condoning the killing of another person.
In a speech at the Vatican, the Pope said:
“Today I am very sad, because in the country where Our Lady appeared a citizen kill law has been approved. This is just another step in the great list of countries that have approved euthanasia.”
The head of state of the Vatican was speaking at a meeting with hundreds of representatives of the World Union of Catholic Women’s Organisations, where he also spoke about the celebrations of the 13th of May, “the day when the apparitions of the Virgin Mother to the little shepherds of Fatima are celebrated.”
“Thinking of the Virgin, let us look to Mary as a model of a woman par excellence, who lives to the fullest a gift and a task: the gift of motherhood and the task of caring for her children in the Church,” stated Pope Francis.
The Pope, who will be in Portugal on the occasion of World Youth Day, which takes place in Lisbon between the 1st and 6th of August, has planned a trip to the Shrine of Fatima, went on to stress that Mary “teaches us to create life and to always protect it.”
On Friday, the parliament confirmed the decree on medically assisted death, which had been vetoed by the President of the Republic, with a total of 129 votes in favor, forcing its promulgation.
According to the Constitution of the Republic, in the face of a veto, the parliament can confirm the text by an absolute majority of the deputies in the effectivity of functions, 116 out of 230, and in that case, the President of the Republic will have to promulgate the diploma within eight days from the date of receipt.
On the same day, the head of state, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, said he will enact the euthanasia law, because the Constitution he swore to defend leaves no other alternative.
“I swore an oath to the Constitution. The Constitution obliges the President to enact a law that he vetoed and that was confirmed by the Assembly of the Republic. It is my constitutional duty,” said Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who is a practicing Catholic in Estarreja (Aveiro).
Samantha Gannon
info at madeira-weekly.com
