Canadian Bishops Address Assisted Suicide Legislation

The Permanent Council of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) have issued an Open Letter to the Government of Canada as well as a Message to the Catholic Faithful regarding federal legislation which, by March 17, 2024, will permit those living with mental illness to access euthanasia. 

The CCCB have released these documents during National Week for Family and Life which runs from May 7-14, 2023 and are consistent with their ongoing opposition to euthanasia and assisted suicide which was legalised in June of 2016.

As stated in both the Open Letter and Message, “Expanding access to euthanasia and assisted suicide for individuals living with a mental illness closes the door to any hope of recovery…undermines the universal and inviolable dignity of human life and harms the building up of society.”

Referencing our common dependency on each other in varying degress throughout life, the CCCB calls on the federal and provincial/territorial governments to allocate more resources and funding to mental healthcare as well as to palliative care.

The CCCB also encourages the faithful “to witness to life, to tend to and accompany the sick, to resist pressure to support or participate in ‘MAiD,’ and to pray that our law makers may see the harm in what they are permitting to take place.”

To read the full texts of these documents, please use the links below:

Open Letter to the Government of Canada on Permitting Persons Living with Mental Illness to Access Euthanasia/Assisted Suicide

Message to the Catholic Faithful on Permitting Persons Living with Mental Illness to Access Euthanasia/Assisted Suicide