In a May 12 statement, the Colombian bishops’ conference pointed out that following the teaching of the Church and “its fundamental option to fully serve the human being (…), it receives with profound pain the decision of the Constitutional Court in favor of Medically Assisted Suicide.”
The bishops called on the country’s authorities to be “consistent with the inviolable value of human life, as enshrined in the Colombian Constitution,” so that “the decisions that are made are aimed at its protection, defense and care and not at its destruction.”
“As a society we are called to receive life and preserve it with gratitude; to choose, in all circumstances, the necessary human, scientific and spiritual means to surround it with meaning and value”, they pointed out.
The bishops expressed solidarity with people who are suffering and recalled that “it’s important to translate the love of Christ into concrete gestures of prayer, affection, service and accompaniment in the face of pain, like the Good Samaritan in the Gospel, who healed the wounds of his brother in need with heartfelt mercy, using the ‘oil of consolation and the wine of hope.’”
The bishops urged those suffering “to reject the temptation, sometimes induced by legislative changes, to use medicine to cause death.”
They reaffirmed that “no healthcare worker can be forced to collaborate in the death of others; his conscience prevents him. The fundamental right to personal conscientious objection must always be guaranteed, as well as the safeguarding of the principles of the mission and vision of the Institutions in accordance with their nature, which identifies them in favor of life.”
Credit: Source link
