Pope says love, not euthanasia, eases the suffering of the dying

By Cindy Wooden
Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Love is the only thing that can ease the suffering of the terminally ill and it is the only worthy response of those who value the life that is ending, Pope Benedict XVI said.

Christians must have the courage to say publicly and clearly that "euthanasia is a false solution to the drama of suffering, a solution unworthy of the human person," the pope said Feb. 1 during his midday Angelus address.

Marking the Italian Catholic Church's celebration of Pro-Life Sunday, the pope said helping a terminally ill person die might give the impression of easing that individual's suffering, but the only authentically human response to the suffering of another is the witness of "love that helps one face pain and agony in a human way."

"Of this we are certain: No tear -- not of one who suffers, nor of one who is near to that person -- goes unnoticed by God," Pope Benedict said.

The pope entrusted to Mary all those who are suffering and all those who care for them, "serving life at every stage: parents, health care workers, priests, religious, researchers, volunteers and many others."

Mary understands suffering and what it means to watch a loved one suffer, the pope said, because she shared the painful hour of her son's Passion and Crucifixion, sustained by hope in the Resurrection.

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