Pope Francis spoke out against euthanasia on Saturday at the Vatican before parliamentarians from the south of France, where a bill envisages the right to "assisted death".
"I dare to hope that, also with your contribution, the debate on the essential question of the end of life can be held in truth," stressed Pope Francis, whose words were reported in a Vatican statement.
"It is about accompanying life until its natural end through a broader development of palliative care," he told his audience, whom he warmly thanked.
"This pilgrimage to Rome is courageous and bears witness to your desire to unify your life as a believer with that of a man or woman in responsibility. Thank you!" said the Pope, who is due to visit Corsica, a French Mediterranean island, on December 15.
The Argentine Jesuit, who will celebrate his 88th birthday two days after this trip, will arrive in Ajaccio at 09:00 (08:00 GMT) and will leave shortly after 18:00. He will give two speeches and preside over a mass in the afternoon at the Casone open-air theater, before meeting with President Emmanuel Macron.
In February, French MPs are due to examine a text on the end of life, thus relaunching a saga that has lasted for several years on this particularly sensitive social subject.
The previous government, after long months of gestation, had put on the table a text providing for the legalization of assisted suicide and in certain cases, euthanasia, described as "active aid in dying". This text, which attached strict conditions, had reached the National Assembly but its examination was interrupted by the dissolution and the elections of mid-2024.
The fate of this project is therefore in suspense, while the current government brings together the centre and the right, the latter being historically very reluctant to legalise euthanasia and assisted suicide.
On September 23, 2023, on the return flight from his trip to Marseille, in the south of France, the Pope, questioned by AFP on the bill in the country, had firmly expressed himself against "a hideous form of compassion".
"We do not play with life. Whether it is the law prohibiting a child from growing in its mother's womb or the law on euthanasia in cases of illness or old age," he said.
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