“This July 15, 2026 marks a serious break in the history of our country. » In a long press release with a solemn and clear tone, the presidency of the Conference of Bishops of France (CEF) reacted strongly to the final adoption by the National Assembly – with 291 votes for and 241 votes against – of the bill legalizing assisted suicide with the exception of euthanasia. “By choosing to legalize euthanasia and assisted suicide, the deputies have included in French law the possibility of causing death,” write Cardinal Jean-Marc Aveline, president of the CEF and his two vice-presidents, Mgr. Vincent Jordy and Mgr. Benoit Bertrand. This choice breaks with the long tradition of care whose vocation is to relieve suffering and accompany each person until the natural end of their life. »
After a long legislative journey for this controversial reform, the bishops regret a missed debate. “The President of the Republic had announced a calm, informed and respectful debate but it is clear that the political, ideological and undoubtedly even economic issues, disguised by misleading words, got the better of this ambition,” they write. A question so essential for our social pact nevertheless deserves that the human, medical, ethical and social consequences of euthanasia and assisted suicide be fully considered. »
A change in society
They also deplore the future effects of this law: “Our relationship to vulnerability, old age, disability or illness will change. The bond of trust between generations but also between caregivers, patients and their families will be degraded and society’s view of fragility will be damaged. The poorest risk being the first to pay the price: not wanting to be a burden on their children or grandchildren, elderly people in precarious circumstances could feel pushed to leave. » They also fear for the development of palliative care. “The experience of other countries shows that the criteria for access to assisted dying always tend to broaden, to the detriment of palliative care,” point out the presidency of the CEF.
And now ? The Church of France first calls “for a renewed commitment, with families, caregivers, volunteers, close caregivers, associations, chaplains, to bear witness that another path is possible, that of a faithful presence and attentive support which soothes physical or psychological suffering, without ever abandoning anyone. » The CEF also says that it “will carefully follow the referrals announced by the Constitutional Council” and all initiatives so that “respect for the ethics of establishments engaged in supporting people at the end of life and which exclude the use of euthanasia or assisted suicide” is guaranteed. »
“The greatness of a society never lies in killing the most vulnerable”
In the absence in the current state of the adopted law of a collective conscience clause for establishments, particularly Catholic establishments, the bishops explicitly encourage these Catholic care establishments “to be faithful witnesses of the indispensable ethical attention to respect for fundamental human values, by abstaining from behavior that is clearly illicit from a moral point of view, by virtue of the dignity of all human life. »
Cardinal Aveline and the two vice-presidents of the CEF finally assure that the Catholics of France, in the name of the Gospel, “will continue, with many other men and women of good will, believers or not, to serve life”, “convinced that the greatness of a society never lies in giving death to the most fragile, or allowing them to give it to themselves, but on the contrary in accompanying them, through real fraternity, to the end. »
