Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Bogota (Agenzia Fides) - A proposed controversial Bill to legalise euthanasia and assisted suicide in Colombia has been firmly condemned by the Catholic Bishops of Colombia in a statement signed by the president of the Bishops' Conference, Archbishop Luis Augusto Castro Quiroga. Earlier this year when the Bill was presented to Colombia's National Congress in March, the Bishops had already reaffirmed their position for the protection of life and against euthanasia and reminded legislators of their duty to protect patients with laws which promote palliative treatment (see Fides 30/3/2007).
In this second statement dated 3 October the Bishops recall that "the dignity of every human person demands the protection and development of his or her physical, psychological, spiritual and moral conditions". What is more this dignity does not diminish with pain and suffering "because these conditions do not stop the life of the person", on the contrary they are a reminder of the "fragility of human life and prompt activity to reduce this fragility. The dignity of the human person is not in conflict with his or her nature, growing old, suffering and dying are not elements which degrade the person's dignity". The Bishops explain that "death is simply the natural conclusion of the vital process in conditions of medical, family and spiritual assistance”.
They say that although the law "claims to enable a person to end his or her life in a 'worthy and human manner', there can be no ‘'worthy and human manner' when the life of a person is wilfully ended". The Bishops say the arguments in favour proposed by certain Senators "violate the very values of our culture which for centuries has lived suffering and death with sacred respected and a sense of transcendence" and that the Bill "places some human persons in a situation of vulnerability and lack of protection on the part of the government which is obliged to respect the life of every Colombian" and they appeal to lawmakers to "legislate for the good of life and not to make executioners out of those who vote the law". Lastly the Bishops all Colombians to strongly reject the Bill and continue to work to "preserve the dignity of old age, pain and death ". (RG) (Agenzia Fides 4/10/2007; righe 28, parole 408)
