Pope Francis today criticized the “sophisticated laws of euthanasia” in his first speech in Portugal as part of World Youth Day (WYD), also referring to abortion.
At the Belém Cultural Center in Lisbon, alongside the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, and with the Prime Minister, António Costa, and other ministers of his Government in attendance, the Vatican head of state considered that human life is put “at risk by utilitarian drifts that use and discard it”.
“In today’s evolved world, paradoxically, it has become a priority to defend human life, put at risk by utilitarian drifts that use and discard it,” Francis said.
In Portugal, the decree decriminalizing medically assisted death was promulgated on 16 May by the President of the Republic.