Fr. Carlo Casalone, SJ, wrote in La Civiltà Cattolica that Euthanasia bills do not contradict common good. More than 60 Pro-Life associations strongly condemned the statement.
Newsroom (15/01/2022 06:00, Gaudium Press) In the article “The parliamentary discussion on assisted suicide” published in the Italian magazine La Civiltà Cattolica, Fr. Carlo Casalone, a Jesuit, defended that the bill favouring euthanasia in Italy does not oppose common good.
In addition to being a member of the Pontifical Academy for Life at the Vatican, Father Casalone is also a professor of moral theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, a physician, and an expert in bioethics.
In the article, Casalone writes: “In the current cultural and social discussion,(…) that support for this bill does not contradict the responsible search for the possible common good.”
Asserting his point of view, the Jesuit priest quotes a speech by Pope Francis to the World Medical Association: “In democratic societies, sensitive issues such as these must be treated with moderation: in a serious and thoughtful way, and with a desire to find solutions, even normative ones, that are as shared as possible.”
Pro-Life associations strongly condemn the statement
Meanwhile, Pro-Life Associations have sharply criticized the article and Father Casalone’s position. A total of 60 Associations standing in defence of Life have signed an open letter published in the Italian newspaper Il Timone. They utterly reject the Jesuit’s statement: “It is surprising how, an authoritative newspaper, expected to echo the Magisterium of the Church may risk positions that – although indirectly – can give ground to the ‘culture of the disposable,’ whose negative effects Pope Francis constantly warns of.”
According to the associations, the article gives a favourable interpretation of the bill that permits death “on the basis of an inadmissible ‘now and forever’ and which created the basis for the Constitutional Court’s ruling in the ‘Cappato case’. (Editorial note: They refer to the case of Marco Cappato, the politician and activist of the Luca Coscioni association accused -based on the article 580 of the Italian Penal Code– of having helped Fabiano Antoniani to commit suicide.)
The associations conclude by calling attention to the fact that protecting Life and supporting those who suffer is a battle for reason and civilization. (FM)
Compiled by Gustavo Kralj
