The auxiliary bishop of Braga spoke out today against euthanasia, considering that “life is an unavailable good” and that “euthanasia and suicide do not represent an exercise of freedom, but the suppression of the very root of freedom”.
Nuno Almeida, in an open letter addressed to the deputies, who on the 20th will discuss and vote on proposals to decriminalize euthanasia, warns that “it is not logical to contrast the value of human life with the value of freedom and autonomy. Autonomy supposes life and its dignity. Life is an unavailable good, the assumption of all other earthly goods and all rights. Autonomy against life cannot be invoked, as only those who live are free. The freedom of the person cannot be achieved by suppressing that person’s life ”.
For the prelate, who has been saying for years to visit “the elderly and the sick in their homes, in homes, in continuous and palliative care units, day and social centers, Hospitals and other institutions”, if he were a deputy, “I would think consciously, freely and responsibly in people, especially in the most fragile. When deciding to vote, I could not give priority to political, ideological strategies or party guidelines ”.
“There is no doubt that there are patients who feel psychologically and socially dead (they have plunged into a meaningless life and experience the deepest loneliness) and it seems to them that they only need to die biologically. Do they really want to die or do they want to feel loved? ”, He asks in the document released today by the archdiocese of Braga.
In the same document, he adds that, “with euthanasia and assisted suicide, another person’s death is deliberately caused (to kill) or someone is assisted in suicide (to help another person to“ kill himself ”). Euthanasia does not end suffering, it ends a life! ”
“For us believers, life is not an object that can be arbitrarily disposed of, it is a gift from God and a mission to fulfill”, he stresses, warning, also, that “there can never be an absolute guarantee that the request for euthanasia it is truly free, unambiguous and irreversible. In terminal phases, moments of despair follow, alternating with others of attachment to life ”.
This position by Nuno Almeida follows the public position taken by the Bishop of Porto, who reaffirmed this week that “human life is never endorsable”, but it would be “deplorable” that deputies “impose their criteria” on the Portuguese, in a reference to the decriminalization of euthanasia, which parliament discusses on February 20.
In a message released via Twitter, Manuel Linda opened the door to the defense of a referendum on euthanasia, by writing that “human life is never endorsable. Ethically. Even if the entire population approved a death technique, it would always be deplorable. But it would be more deplorable if 150 or 200 people imposed their criteria on large millions of citizens ”.
Already on Tuesday, in declarations to Rádio Renascença, the bishop of Porto said that “political legitimacy, no one doubts that parliament has [para aprovar a despenalização da eutanásia]. But taking advantage of a momentary majority to get a law passed will not be the longest route to align with society. It is not the same as passing another law on any other matter. ”
Also on Tuesday, the cardinal-patriarch of Lisbon spoke out against the decriminalization of euthanasia, admitting to taking an intervention “before, during and after” the debate scheduled for February 20 in parliament.
For Manuel Clemente, “life, its meaning, is at stake, especially when it is more fragile”, he underlined, in statements to the Catholic agency Ecclesia.
The decriminalization of euthanasia “may be episodically approved, but we are here, as human beings, on this common front for a better humanity,” he said, adding that the topic “cannot be taken lightly”.
For his part, the Bishop of Aveiro defended the extension of the network of continuous and palliative care at national level, reinforcing that the right to life is “inviolable”, in a position against the discussion of the decriminalization of euthanasia.
In a pastoral note addressed to Catholics in the diocese of Aveiro, António Moiteiro, wrote that “the defense of human life is not simply a religious issue, but above all a question of the dignity and rights of the human being”.
Meanwhile, the Portuguese Federation for Life is preparing a popular referendum initiative against euthanasia.
The issue of euthanasia should, on the other hand, mark the next meeting of the Permanent Council of the Portuguese Episcopal Conference, scheduled for next Tuesday, in Fátima.
The Assembly of the Republic scheduled for February 20 the debate on BE, PS, PAN and PEV projects on the decriminalization of medically assisted death.
In 2018, the Assembly of the Republic discussed projects to decriminalize the medically assisted death of PS, BE, PAN and PEV, but they were all failed, in a nominal vote by deputies, one by one, and in which the two largest parties gave freedom to vote .
Two years ago, the CDS-PP voted against it, as did the PCP, the PSD split, a majority in the PS voted in favor, the PAN and BE voted in favor.
In view of the result, the parties defending decriminalization referred to the next legislature, which left the October legislatures, the re-presentation of proposals, which came to pass.
In the current legislature, there are, again, bills on medically assisted death presented by the Left Bloc, PS, PAN and ENP, which determine the conditions under which euthanasia is decriminalized.
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