The Archdiocese of Montreal assisted in the suicide

CV NEWS FEED // The Archdiocese of Montreal has filed a lawsuit against a Quebec law that recently required religious-affiliated palliative care homes to provide assisted suicide.

Canadian Press In December, Quebec announced that it had passed the contested legislation, requiring all palliative care homes to offer suicide options. Even Catholic palliative care homes like St. Raphael in Montreal are required to offer suicide against their religious beliefs.

Montreal Archbishop Christian Lepin said the law violates Canadians' constitutionally protected right to freedom of religion.

“I know it's a complicated issue and there are many points of view, but I believe that in a democracy and in the Charter of Rights we have, we should be allowed to respect freedom of conscience, which is very important,” Lepin said. said canadian press.

Saint Raphael, a Catholic palliative care center in Montreal, opened in 2019 and is housed in a former church. The center, which treats all, regardless of gender or religion, is allowed to transfer patients who previously sought help for suicide to a public health facility.

In December, new legislation was added to require all palliative care homes to offer assisted suicide. When Saint Raphael asked to be released from the priesthood, Sonia Bélanger, Quebec's minister responsible for the elderly, denied the request.

In a lawsuit filed by Lepine's office, the assisted-suicide mandate leaves the Catholic Church with a dilemma: either they stop providing palliative care or “accept their property, the former church, to be used to commit acts they find morally objectionable. ,” canadian press reported.