Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Madrid (Agenzia Fides) - The National Director of the Pontifical Mission Societies of Spain, Father José María Calderón, published, following the approval of the law legalizing euthanasia in Spain, a statement, also sent to Fides, in which he affirms: "The Church, with her missionaries, cares, many times, in a heroic way, of many people who suffer from terrible, incurable and deadly diseases. She takes care of them with the affection of those who have in their hands the possibility for this sick man or woman to know that they are loved and therefore appreciated and worthy. These missionaries teach us that life has value when it becomes service, concern and dedication to others, especially those most in need and most disadvantaged.
It is a pity that, in our developed world, with much more material and sanitary means, the life of the person does not deserve to be taken care of to the end and and it is decided - as if we had the keys to life and death - when the life of a sick person no longer has any value or meaning. In the face of the enormous value that is recognized to life in many cultures in which our missionaries carry out their work, the law that the Spanish Congress approved last week on euthanasia and assisted suicide is further proof that man, in our society, has value only when he is useful whereas to the one who suffers his life is taken away instead of accompanying him and helping him to live these moments in peace and to make him feel loved".
Father José María Calderón Castro concludes with these words: "We thank the Church and the missionaries who are in those distant lands, for having provided us with this lesson of humanity and charity towards those to whom the only thing we can give is love, the one thing we all need the most". (CE) (Agenzia Fides, 23/3/2021)
AMERICA/EL SALVADOR - Archbishop Escobar Alas: no to constitutional reform according to an international project on abortion and euthanasia
OCEANIA/AUSTRALIA - No to euthanasia, "compassion never kills": petition by Catholics and street demonstrations
ASIA/PAKISTAN - Punjab Province: Catholic lawyer is human rights minister
ASIA/INDIA - "No" to religious polarization on the eve of the elections: Catholic religious and lay people reject the film on "love jihad"
ASIA/JAPAN - Among the "treasures of faith", the experience of Blessed Angelo Orsucci, missionary in Japan
AFRICA/SENEGAL - Faye's victory confirmed: "Victory of democracy, but the future remains incertain"
VATICAN - A new training course for the diocesan directors of the Pontifical Mission Societies in Rome
EUROPE/ROMANIA - Children's mission organizations from European countries come together in Bucharest: The focus is on cooperation