Pope Francis criticized this Saturday the approval of the decree on medically assisted death, considering that the Portuguese parliament enacted a law to kill.
“Today I am very sad, because in the country where Our Lady appeared, a law was enacted to kill. One more step in the long list of countries that have approved euthanasia”, said the Pope, in the Vatican, quoted by the Ecclesia Agency. .
The Vatican head of state spoke in a meeting with hundreds of representatives of the World Union of Catholic Women’s Organizations, where he also referred to the celebrations of May 13, “the day on which the apparitions of the Virgin Mother to the little shepherds take place of Fatima is celebrated”.
“Thinking of the Virgin, let us look at Mary as the model of a woman par excellence, who fully lives a gift and a task: the gift of motherhood and the task of caring for her children, in the Church,” Francis said, quoted by Ecclesia .
The Pope, who will be in Portugal for the World Youth Day, which will take place in Lisbon from August 1 to 6, and has planned a visit to the Sanctuary of Fatima, also stressed that Mary “teaches to generate life, protect it always”.
Parliament confirmed this Friday the decree on medically assisted death, which had been vetoed by the President of the Republic, with a total of 129 votes in favor, forcing its promulgation.
In accordance with the Constitution of the Republic, before the veto, the parliament can ratify the text by an absolute majority of the deputies in office, 116 of 230, and in this case, the President of the Republic must promulgate the diploma within eight days following the date of receipt.
On the same day, the head of state, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, affirmed that he will promulgate the euthanasia law, because the Constitution that he swore to defend leaves no other alternative.
“I swore to the Constitution. The Constitution obliges the President to promulgate a law that he vetoed and that was ratified by the Assembly of the Republic (…) it is my constitutional duty”, said Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, a practicing Catholic, in Estarreja (Aveiro).
The Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, presides over the international anniversary pilgrimage on May 12 and 13, which ends today at the Sanctuary of Fatima, 106 years after the events in Cova da Iria.
According to the sanctuary, there are about 200,000 people in the enclosure.
The theme of the pilgrimage is linked to the theme proposed by Pope Francis for World Youth Day, “Mary got up and left in haste”.
Source: TSF
