Archbishop of Montreal opposes Canada's physician-assisted dying law

(OSV News) – A Catholic archbishop has challenged Canada's physician-assisted death law, which covers both medically assisted suicide and euthanasia, with potentially far-reaching implications for religious freedom, conscience rights, property rights and private property rights. public-private partnership.

Montreal Archbishop Christian Lepin filed an appeal with the Quebec Supreme Court on February 5, asking for an immediate halt to the June 2023 amendment to Canada's End-of-Life Care Act.

The amendment states that “palliative care hospices cannot exclude medical care in the event of death from the care they provide.”

Since 2016, Canada's Medical Assistance in Dying Act, or MAID, exempts doctors and nurses from criminal liability who, on their own request, directly administer or prescribe medication that causes death. The law includes protocols to ensure that a patient seeking MAID is fully informed and consents freely.

Archbishop Lepin is seeking to protect Montreal's St. Raphael Home and Day Care Palliative Care Center, a 12-bed non-profit facility that provides free care regardless of ethnicity, social status, religious belief, sexual orientation or gender identity.

The Catholic Register, Canada's national Catholic newspaper based in Toronto, reported in the Catholic Register that after the closing of St. Raphael the Archangel Church, the Archdiocese of Montreal donated the building and land to Maison Saint-Raphael, a non-profit organization formed to manage the home. 75 year lease. He insisted that the facility, which opened in 2019, would never run MAID.

St. Raphael says on its website that “the palliative care approach supports life and recognizes death as a natural part of life” and that the center's mission is “to relieve physical, psychological and spiritual suffering and improve the quality of life.” patients and their relatives. The goal is to offer a path to the end of life with compassion and humanity, respecting the needs and limits of each person.”

According to the archdiocese's suit, which notes that St. Raphael's agreed with Montreal's health and social services agency from the beginning that mission was not possible under the amendment, it acknowledged that St. Raphael's did not provide MAID but established protocols for transport. a patient who was left without their care demanded it.

The Catholic Register reported that Quebec Health Minister Sonia Belanger rejected St. Raphael's request for an exemption from MAID requirements in November, calling MAID “part of the palliative and end-of-life care continuum that should be available everywhere.” “settings that offer end-of-life care” at the patient's request.

According to the Catholic Register, the archdiocese's private property rights are also tied to this amendment: St. Raphael's is a private institution with the right to “determine its directions, policies and procedures, even if it receives public funding,” otherwise the state will use the religious building effectively for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The court further declares that the amendment could inhibit the efforts of religious groups to serve society if they fail to respect the true beliefs and convictions of religious groups.

“The Catholic Church recognizes the need for high-quality palliative care that upholds the dignity of human life by providing effective pain management while addressing emotional, affective and spiritual issues,” the Archdiocese of Montreal said in a statement posted on its website on February 6. needs of individuals.

“According to Catholic doctrine, human life is considered sacred and inviolable, extending from conception to natural death,” the archdiocese said. “Palliative care accompanies people and their loved ones at the end of life, aiming to relieve pain without prolonging or hastening death.”

Instead, MAID “results in the untimely death of an individual,” the archdiocese said. “Therefore, the Catholic Church considers it an act of euthanasia, which is morally unacceptable as a response to the pain and suffering experienced by people at the end of their lives.”

Archbishop Lepine told the Catholic Register that the case is “not just a palliative care issue, it's a freedom of conscience issue.”

“We talk about palliative care and MAiD because the law is related to these issues. But this is really freedom of conscience not only for individuals, but also for institutions,” said the archbishop. “That's what we're hoping to do moving forward. Whoever we are, we need a society with freedom of conscience for people and institutions.”

Gina Christian is a multimedia reporter for OSV News. Follow her on X (formerly Twitter) @GinaJesseReina.