Vatican City
Reuters
Pope Francis said on Wednesday that war in Ukraine would be “madness” and hoped that tensions between that country and Russia could be overcome through multi-lateral dialogue.
Pope Francis arrives for the weekly general audience at the Paul VI Audience Hall at the Vatican, on 9th February. PICTURE: Reuters/Yara Nardi
Speaking at his Wednesday general audience, Francis thanked those who took part in his 26th January international day of prayer for peace in Ukraine.
“Let us continue to beg the God of peace so that the tensions and threats of war can be overcome through a serious dialogue and that the Normandy Format talks can contribute to this aim,” he said, referring to negotiations involving Russia and Ukraine, facilitated by Germany and France.
“And let’s not forget. War is madness,” he said.
Russia has massed troops near Ukraine but denies Western accusations that it is planning an attack.
Most Ukrainians follow Orthodox Christianity, but the country is also home to its own branch of the Catholic Church, which practices an eastern rite similar to Orthodox worship while proclaiming loyalty to the Pope in Rome.
On Tuesday, the leader of Ukraine’s Eastern-rite Catholics said he has invited Francis to visit, calling it a huge gesture that would help being peace.
Meanwhile, the Pope condemned assisted suicide as an unacceptable deviation from medical ethics as Italy’s parliament resumed talks on a law to regulate it.
Speaking at his general audience, Francis praised palliative care aimed at helping terminally ill patients live as comfortably and humanely as possible.
“But we have to be careful to not confuse this help with unacceptable deviations that lead to killing,” he said. “We must accompany death, not provoke death or help any kind of suicide.”
In 2019, Italy’s Constitutional Court partially decriminalised assisted suicide under certain conditions if local health authorities and an ethics board approved. But the court also said parliament should pass a law regulating it.
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The draft of the law that parliament was due to start discussing on Wednesday afternoon would allow terminally ill patients to seek assisted suicide through the national health system. It would also protect doctors from any legal suits against them.
But Italy’s political parties remain deeply divided, with the centre-left generally supporting it and the centre-right opposed.
Proponents say assisted suicide should be allowed for patients with incurable illnesses, who suffer intolerable pain and who have already had palliative care.
Senator Paola Binetti of the small Union of Christian and Centre Democrats party said the law would violate not only Christian principles but also the Hippocratic Oath taken by doctors to treat the ill.
Right-to-die advocates last year collected nearly three times the 500,000 signatures needed to ask a high court to approve a national referendum on the issue. The 1.4 million signatures and legal arguments were deposited with the court this week. It is expected to begin deliberations on 15th February.
A poll by the SWG research group in 2019 showed 92 per cent of Italians who were asked said they were in favour of allowing assisted suicide and euthanasia. Some 45 per cent said they favoured it generally and 47 per cent were in favour in certain situations.
