European bishops (Ccee)
“It is unlawful to take the life of anyone. No earthly authority has the right to decide if a person can take their own life, nor has it the right to take an active part in this tragic matter”. Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, President of the Council of the Bishops’ Conferences of Europe (CCEE), made this heartfelt appeal yesterday as he opened the 3rd Meeting of Legal Advisors of the European Bishops’ Conferences that is being held (until 12 December) in Luxembourg. During the three-day meeting, legal advisors from 19 countries will exchange views on the regulations concerning the so-called “end of life”. “Life is a gift from God – Cardinal Bagnasco said in his speech – whose value and dignity comes from the fact of being wanted and loved by God regardless of any criteria of utility or feeling. We are therefore called to love, defend and promote life at all levels and in every phase of human existence”. For Cardinal Bagnasco, “we live at a time when no one can be a spectator. We are called to consider and understand, even at the legislative level, what is good and can be improved while also trying to prevent laws from being passed which – by becoming mainstream – would erase fundamental moral criteria. We often see evil things being allowed or promoted, although, at the root, they do not respect the human person”.
The meeting will also focus on migration. “The Church in European countries – the Apostolic Nuncio to Luxembourg Mgr. Augustine Kasujja said – does not want to fall into the sin of omission and indifference, by neglecting her pastoral responsibilities and remaining a mere spectator in an ongoing process driven by some political leaders; rather, she feels the duty to make her Christian contribution in promoting a destiny of development and peace for all the peoples of the continent”. And he went on to say: “before it is too late, the future of ethical values, of moral values, of the value of justice related to human life, the family, the reception of migrants, the protection of the environment and of global climate, etc. requires the contribution of all without exception, especially the Church and her Pastors”.
