In an article for Belgian daily De Standaard, Archbishop André-Joseph Léonard looks back on ten years of legalised euthanasia in Belgium. My translation is here.
The archbishop, who will undoubtedly receive some expected criticism for this text, asks if the fears that the episcopate expressed a decade ago were unfounded. They were not, he says. Emphasising that the current safeguards that would make euthanasia safe simply do not work, Archbishop Léonard uses the example of a door that, once opened just a crack, will unavoidably be opened further. To halt that process, we need a clear and resolute “yes” to competent and loving care for the sick and dying. While prohibiting euthanasia does limit personal freedom, the common good sometimes trumps that freedom if we want a future for our society.
Photo credit: Reuters/Yves Herman
In Caelo et in Terra 
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