Pope Leo XIV in Lourdes calls assisted dying immoral, meets abuse survivors

At Lourdes, Pope Leo XIV denounced medically assisted death and met clergy abuse survivors. The day highlighted the Church's twin battles over end-of-life ethics and accountability for abuse.Stock photo used for illustrationLourdes,Sep 28, 2026 10:24 ISTPope Leo XIV on Sunday condemned the legalisation of medically assisted death as immoral ‘false compassion’ during a visit to Lourdes in France, a Catholic shrine linked to miraculous healings. On the third day of his France visit, he also met seven survivors of clergy sexual abuse in an encounter the Vatican said was aimed at listening to their experiences and preventing such abuse from happening again.His visit to officially secular but once strongly Catholic France has drawn huge crowds and has been marked by his opposition to abortion and assisted dying. In Lourdes, before a large gathering that included many sick and disabled pilgrims, Leo linked the debate over end-of-life care with the dignity of the vulnerable, while the abuse survivors he met later described the encounter as emotional and meaningful.The issue of assisted dying has stirred debate in France for years before lawmakers recently approved legislation allowing adults with incurable illnesses to receive lethal medication. Leo has also spoken about the issue in his native United States, where he had specifically criticised a medical-aid-in-dying law that took effect on September 12 in his home state of Illinois, the 13th US state to have such a law.On Sunday, the American pope celebrated Mass before around 150,000 people on the prairie next to Lourdes’ main basilica, with many in wheelchairs. He later visited a care centre for sick people on the sanctuary grounds and sought to encourage those living in ‘terrible pain’ that they have an inherent dignity that no law or algorithm can ‘eliminate’. ‘On the contrary, it is precisely in the name of this inalienable dignity of the human person that we must reject the temptation to cause death under the guise of false compassion,’ he said. ‘What is legal is not necessarily moral,’ Leo said to applause from the crowd.Catholic teaching holds that all human life must be protected and defended from conception until natural death, and this underpins the Church’s opposition to abortion, euthanasia and medically assisted dying. Lourdes became a major pilgrimage destination after the Catholic Church officially recognised visions of the Virgin Mary reported there by a young girl in 1858. The site near the Spanish border draws millions of pilgrims every year, especially sick and disabled believers hoping for a cure from the spring water at the Lourdes grotto where the visions were said to have taken place. The Church has recognised 72 ‘miraculous’ cures there, making the question of respect for even the most frail, sick and vulnerable especially sharp in Lourdes.Lourdes has also in recent years become a place of healing for survivors of clergy sexual abuse, and it was chosen for Leo’s meeting with victims. The pope met them both as a group and individually in an encounter that lasted nearly two hours, the Vatican said.‘It was extraordinary,’ survivor Jean-Marie Delbos said after the meeting, adding that Leo listened and was informed of their cases. ‘I never thought I would have a pope before me.’The Vatican said the pope ‘listened to their stories, the pain and suffering they had endured — sometimes, unfortunately, with the complicity or silence of those who could have helped them — and their suggestions for ensuring that this does not happen again’.Olivier Mardi, co-founder of the survivor group Voix Liberees de Touraine, said he saw Leo as a decisive ‘man of engagement’ who had prepared for the meeting. He said the pope knew his case and asked precise questions. ‘He’s not fooled; he knows that these incidents will continue and that we must remain vigilant,’ Mardi said. ‘There was an emotional side to it, and at the same time, something very powerful when he spoke.’The French church has faced a major reckoning over abuse. An independent report in 2021 estimated that 330,000 children had been abused over 70 years by around 3,000 priests and church workers. Despite criticism of the report’s methodology and conclusions, French bishops set up an independent compensation system for victims that has so far recommended the Church pay more than 20 million euros in compensation.During a meeting with French bishops on Sunday morning, Leo praised their response to victims and urged them to continue. He also said the sharp fall in priestly vocations in France was linked to the scandal, with the priesthood now at times viewed with suspicion. ‘For priestly vocations to flourish, the priest must be welcomed, accepted, and loved,’ Leo said.Monsignor Pierre-Antoine Bozo, spokesperson for the bishops’ conference, said the pope had wanted to keep the meeting with victims small so that it could remain intimate. ‘When it comes to listening to them, you can’t have 50 people in front of you,’ he said. ‘So I think that’s really what the pope chose: to listen so that we can act and respond more effectively.’Leo’s visit to Lourdes also brought him close to an abuse case inherited from Pope Francis. The facade of one of the Lourdes basilicas was designed by the Rev. Marko Rupnik, a religious mosaic artist who is on trial in a Vatican court after more than two dozen women accused him of psychological, spiritual and sexual abuse starting in the 1990s, including during the creation of his artworks. His case was covered up for three decades by his Jesuit superiors, and Francis later ordered a canonical trial in 2024, which is still under way.The Rupnik case has raised the question of what should be done with his mosaics, which appear on basilicas around the world. Lourdes Bishop Jean-Marc Micas decided in 2025 to cover the facade of the Notre Dame du Rosaire Basilica, saying abuse victims coming to Lourdes for healing should not be forced to see the mosaics. On Sunday, Leo passed the basilica in his popemobile, going by the mosaic panels now covered by mustard-coloured curtains fastened with plastic ties.Leo’s day in Lourdes brought together two of the most sensitive issues facing the Catholic Church and wider society — end-of-life care and clergy sexual abuse — as he repeated the Church’s opposition to assisted dying and met survivors who said they had been heard.With PTI Inputs- Ends