LOURDES, France – Pope Leo XIV condemned medically assisted death as “false compassion” during a Mass and meeting with sick pilgrims Sunday at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes, directly challenging France’s recent move to legalize assisted dying.
Speaking at the Catholic shrine, Leo said the dignity of people experiencing severe illness or pain should not be diminished by law.
“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,” the pope said in an address to sick people and caregivers. He added: “What is legal is not necessarily moral.”
The remarks came during the third day of Leo’s four-day visit to France and placed the Catholic Church’s opposition to assisted dying at the center of his appearance at Lourdes, one of the world’s best-known destinations for sick and disabled pilgrims.
Leo urges care rather than assisted death
The pope addressed patients and healthcare workers at the Accueil Notre-Dame, a facility at the Lourdes sanctuary that assists pilgrims with medical and physical needs.
He said healthcare workers should understand their vocation as caring for people who are suffering rather than eliminating them.
Leo also called for greater development of palliative-care structures and research, while urging healthcare workers and volunteers to accompany sick people with what he described as tenderness and respect for human dignity.
His comments were consistent with a position he has expressed elsewhere during his papacy.
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In June, Leo told members of the Jérôme Lejeune Foundation that medicine should not become what he called the “servant of programmed death,” and he linked the issue to questions about human dignity and the use of medical and technological systems in decisions involving life.
At Lourdes, however, the issue carried particular significance because the shrine is closely associated with people seeking help and hope while living with serious illness and disability.
Remarks come after France changes its end-of-life law
Leo’s comments came after France’s parliament approved legislation allowing medically assisted death for certain adults with incurable illnesses.
The legislation followed years of political debate over how France should respond to people experiencing severe and irreversible illness, including questions about autonomy, suffering, medical ethics and safeguards.
The change has placed France alongside a number of jurisdictions that permit some form of medically assisted dying, although the legal models and eligibility requirements differ between countries.
The pope did not name individual French lawmakers or parties in his Lourdes address. Instead, he framed his opposition around the Catholic Church’s understanding of the dignity and protection of human life.
Earlier Sunday, in a meeting with French bishops at Lourdes, Leo said the Catholic Church had a legitimate place in France’s public debate, including on questions concerning what he described as fundamental issues for society.
He praised French bishops for their resistance during the recent debates over end-of-life legislation and encouraged them to continue that engagement.
Lourdes becomes backdrop for life-and-death debate
The setting gave Leo’s remarks an additional religious and social context.
Lourdes has been a major pilgrimage destination for more than 150 years, particularly for people who are sick or disabled. The Catholic Church recognizes the site as associated with reported appearances of the Virgin Mary to Bernadette Soubirous in 1858 and has formally recognized a number of claimed healings.
Leo emphasized that the presence of illness and disability should not diminish a person’s value.
During his homily at the sanctuary, he described wheelchairs, crutches and suffering as circumstances in which people could still experience dignity and welcome rather than exclusion.
The message was directed not only at the broader debate over assisted dying but also at people living with severe illness.
Leo told sick pilgrims that they were not a burden and described them as having a central place in the life of humanity and the Church.
Catholic opposition remains explicit
The Catholic Church’s opposition to euthanasia and assisted suicide is longstanding.
Leo’s comments in France therefore represented continuity with Catholic teaching rather than a new doctrinal position. What made the Lourdes intervention particularly significant was its timing and location: France had just completed a major legislative debate over assisted dying, while the pope was addressing thousands of sick and disabled pilgrims at a sanctuary associated with healing and care.
The Vatican’s official account of the address shows that Leo connected his opposition to assisted dying with a broader call for palliative care.
He urged governments and healthcare institutions to expand structures capable of accompanying people through serious illness rather than viewing death as the solution to suffering.
That distinction is central to the Catholic position.
The church supports care for people experiencing pain and terminal illness but rejects deliberately causing death as a legitimate medical response.
A broader message about human dignity
Leo’s Lourdes remarks also fit into a wider theme of his visit to France.
During his meetings with French bishops, he urged the church to remain engaged in public discussion even when its positions are not accepted by lawmakers or the wider population.
That approach was visible in Lourdes.
Rather than addressing the new French law through a detailed legal argument, Leo focused on the moral question underlying the legislation: whether a society should regard intentionally ending a person’s life as compatible with respect for human dignity.
His answer was unequivocal.
The French law remains part of the country’s legal framework, while the pope’s intervention underscored that the Catholic Church will continue to oppose assisted dying on moral and religious grounds.
For the people gathered at Lourdes, the immediate message was also personal: serious illness and dependence, Leo said, do not make a person less worthy of care.
Reporting Credit: Holy See Press Office — Pope Leo XIV’s September 27 address to the sick community and healthcare workers at Accueil Notre-Dame and his Lourdes homily; Holy See — official itinerary and documentation of the pope’s September 25–28 apostolic journey to France; French Bishops’ Conference — statements and documentation concerning the French Church’s position during the end-of-life debate.
