Pope condemns euthanasia, calls elderly a resource

[emad]

Jan. 27, 2005 13:40

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

VATICAN CITY

Pope John Paul II strongly condemned euthanasia in a message Thursday stressing that the elderly should be considered a valuable resource and not a burden to society.

"What would happen if the people of God yielded to a certain current mentality that considers these people, our brothers and sisters, as almost useless when they are reduced in their capacities due to the difficulties of age or sickness," the pope said.

The 84-year-old pontiff, himself slowed by Parkinson's disease and other ailments, set down his views in a message for Lent, the period Christians mark by penitence and fasting before Easter. He had raised the issue last week in a meeting with the ambassador from the Netherlands, the first nation to legalize euthanasia for terminally ill adults.

He said in the message that the commandment `Thou shalt not kill' must always be respected, from the beginning of life "to its natural end."

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1106796048640

Aged 84, he would say that, wouldn't he....

[Ian David]

1. The elderly are a resource

Yumm!

[WMliberal]

2. i was going to say something tasteless about them becoming oil...

but i'll let your imagination do that.

[cincinnati_liberal]

3. Euthanasia And Extermination Are Not The Same

If someone wants to kill themselves, especially because they live in pain, it is their RIGHT to do so, regardless of how much fundies want to flush their ideology down their throats.