Pope Leo XIV has claimed the right and duty of the Church to intervene publicly in defense of human life against euthanasia and has rejected the notion that doing so constitutes interference in politics. “When the Church speaks about the defense of life or matters of social doctrine, it is not engaging in politics, but applying the Gospel to people’s lives”, he stated during the press conference held this Monday, September 28, aboard the return flight from France.
The question was raised by Xavier Le Normand of Le Pèlerin, who recalled that the end of life had repeatedly appeared in the speeches delivered by the Pontiff during his four days in France. The journalist specifically mentioned the words spoken in Lourdes—“what is legal is not necessarily moral”—in the context of the recent legalization of euthanasia in France and asked the Pope whether, on matters of particular gravity, the boundary imposed by secularism between religion and politics should be crossed.
“I have not crossed that line”
Leo XIV rejected the premise that his interventions had amounted to entering the realm of partisan politics.
“According to the Church’s understanding of the separation between Church and politics—or between Church and State—I have not crossed that line,” he replied.
The Pope referred to Magnifica humanitas and explained that the Church’s social doctrine cannot be confined to the private sphere simply because its principles have consequences on politically debated issues.
Leo XIV referred to those who, “on the left or on the right,” maintain that “religion must remain exclusively in the private sphere” and that each person may believe whatever they wish as long as the State remains uninvolved.
In response to that view, he recalled the fundamental purpose of his trip: “When I traveled to France, I did so primarily to preach the Gospel, to proclaim the Good News, to reaffirm what Jesus Christ himself says: ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life.’”
“The defense of life” is part of what the Church teaches
The Pontiff was explicit in placing the defense of life within the doctrine that the Church is called to proclaim publicly.
“The defense of life is a principle that, as you all know, the Church teaches and in which it deeply believes,” he stated.
Leo XIV acknowledged that he was fully aware of the political and legislative context in which he had delivered his speeches. France has recently approved legislation on end-of-life issues, and the matter continues to be debated in other European countries.
Precisely during his stay in the country, the Pope made the defense of life one of the central themes of his interventions. Before Emmanuel Macron, he denounced “programmed death,” as well as abortion, surrogacy, and certain genetic manipulations. The issue resurfaced with particular clarity during his day in Lourdes.
From euthanasia to the individual patient
The Pope’s response on the plane referred directly to what he had experienced the day before at the Marian shrine. Leo XIV explained that Lourdes allows the question of the end of life to be viewed through the concrete reality of those who suffer from illness, disability, or severe suffering.
These are people, he noted, who discover that “their life, even amid illness, disability, or various forms of suffering, has meaning.”
“The Church, in the name of Jesus, wants to be close to these people and reaffirm the values that, in my opinion, life itself holds for all of us,” he added.
On Sunday, during his meeting with the sick and caregivers of Accueil Notre-Dame, Leo XIV formulated the Church’s position with even greater clarity. “The human person is ‘worthy’ simply by the fact of existing and having eternity as their end. Their dignity is neither measured nor debated,” he stated.
The Pope then called for a firm rejection of “the temptation to take life under the pretext of false compassion” and added: “It is impossible to consider normal the act of ending a life. What is legal is not necessarily moral.”
The defense of life marked a significant part of Leo XIV’s day in Lourdes, where the Pontiff also urged healthcare professionals to remember that their vocation consists in “caring for a person who suffers, and not eliminating them.”
“Medicine can never become the servant of programmed death”
In Lourdes, Leo XIV urged doctors and other healthcare professionals to be “passionate servants of life” and called for the development of palliative care structures, research, and accompaniment of the sick.
“No one has the right, ever, based on laboratory algorithms, to decide on the life of a specific embryo or a specific elderly person,” the Pope recalled, citing his speech last June before the Jérôme Lejeune Foundation. “Medicine can never become the servant of programmed death.”
The message continued on Monday in Metz, where Leo XIV affirmed before representatives of various religions the sacred value of life “to the very end”. “Religions are guardians of life,” he stated, calling for care, presence, and tenderness toward the most vulnerable.
“If this is doing politics, then I have done it”
On the return flight, the Pope concluded by directly addressing the question of his opposition to euthanasia as a political intervention.
“If this is doing politics, then I have done it; but certainly it was not my intention to interfere in French politics,” he stated.
He summarized the meaning of his interventions during the trip: “I simply wanted to teach what the Church truly believes.”
The case of Maricarmen: an elderly woman with a disability facing the loss of her home
Íñigo Domínguez of El País asked Leo XIV about Maricarmen, an 87-year-old woman with a disability threatened with losing the home she lived in Madrid after a sharp rent increase.
The journalist presented the case in connection with the “throwaway culture” denounced by the Pope and the marginalization of the elderly and people with disabilities when they are no longer considered productive.
Leo XIV clarified that he was not personally familiar with the circumstances of the case, but questioned how a society could allow such a situation to occur. “How is it possible that a case like this happens? What is the problem in the system that allows an elderly woman, moreover with a disability or some difficulty, to be evicted, so to speak, from her home?” he asked.
For the Pontiff, the response does not rest solely with one institution. He noted that “neighbors, the community, the parish, the diocese, or the State” should intervene in situations of this nature and seek solutions to prevent abandoning a vulnerable person.
From “discarding” to justice
Leo XIV explicitly linked the problem to two issues that run through the Church’s social doctrine: the rejection of the throwaway culture and the demand for justice.
“The Church speaks a great deal about discarding and also about justice,” he stated. The Church, he added, seeks “to awaken in everyone the capacity to respond with a greater sense of being human, of being truly sensitive to the pain and suffering of others.”
The Pope acknowledged, however, that the housing crisis exceeds the capacity of ecclesial communities to provide assistance. “The housing problem that exists in many countries today is one that neither a parish, nor a diocese, nor the Church itself can solve on its own,” he explained.
For this reason, he also called for the intervention of public authorities: “We must perhaps also urge political leaders and authorities to seek a solution to this.”
Leo XIV warned that the problem is growing and urged not to limit intervention to situations where a family or individual is already facing an emergency. “We must truly examine the systemic cause of this problem and how to help,” he concluded.
The response regarding Maricarmen extended into the social sphere a question that occupied much of the trip to France: the dignity of the sick, the elderly, and persons with disabilities does not depend on their productivity, autonomy, or the difficulties their care may entail.
In the face of euthanasia, the Pope called for protecting their life; in the face of exclusion and abandonment, he urged communities, the Church, and authorities to respond so that that life may be lived with dignity.