Amoris Laetitia 83: Abortion, Euthanasia, Death Penalty

amoris laetitia memePope Francis offers an aside in the text that I didn’t see cited as often by the Catholic Right as the later controversial bits:

83. Here I feel it urgent to state that, if the family is the sanctuary of life, the place where life is conceived and cared for, it is a horrendous contradiction when it becomes a place where life is rejected and destroyed. So great is the value of a human life, and so inalienable the right to life of an innocent child growing in the mother’s womb, that no alleged right to one’s own body can justify a decision to terminate that life, which is an end in itself and which can never be considered the “property” of another human being. The family protects human life in all its stages, including its last. Consequently, “those who work in healthcare facilities are reminded of the moral duty of conscientious objection. Similarly, the Church not only feels the urgency to assert the right to a natural death, without aggressive treatment and euthanasia”, but likewise “firmly rejects the death penalty”.(Relatio Finalis 2015, 64)

This is a succinct and accurate summary of the Catholic position on the right to life, affirmed by the bishops in the final document from the 2015 synod.

For your reference, remember that Amoris Laetitia is online here.

About catholicsensibility

Todd lives in Minnesota, serving a Catholic parish as a lay minister.
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3 Responses to Amoris Laetitia 83: Abortion, Euthanasia, Death Penalty

  1. Richardson Mcphillips says:

    except that the contradiction with CCC 2267 needs to be resolved.

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