Pope Leo criticizes legalization of assisted dying as immoral “false compassion”

September 27, 2026 / 11:44 AM EDT / CBS/AP

Pope Leo XIV criticized the legalization of medically assisted dying, calling it immoral and an example of "false compassion" during a visit on Sunday to Lourdes, the Catholic shrine in France associated with miraculous cures of the sick.

"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," said Leo, prompting applause from the crowd gathered to see him. "What is legal is not necessarily moral."

On his third day in France, Leo again waded into the end-of-life debate that has erupted in countries around the world. It roiled French politics for years before resulting recently in legislation allowing adults with incurable illnesses to receive lethal medication.

Leo's visit to the once staunchly Catholic and officially secular France has been marked by huge crowds — 800,000 at Leo's Mass on Paris' iconic Place de la Concorde — and his messaging against abortion and assisted dying.

Many who attended the pope's Mass on Sunday were in wheelchairs, and he later visited a care center for sick people on Lourdes' grounds. He sought to…

Original source: https://www.cbsnews.com/world/