Saint Joseph Catholic Church

“If enacted, this Bill would introduce assisted suicide into law and represent a profound change in how society responds to those who are terminally ill,” Archbishop Mark O’Toole and Bishop Peter Brignall wrote in their statement, issued January 15.

“In our view, it would place many vulnerable people at greater risk,” they continued. “International experience shows that where assisted suicide is legalized, eligibility criteria tend to expand over time, the number of deaths increases, and subtle but real pressure is placed on people who are elderly, disabled, or who fear becoming a burden on others.”

Amid “serious ongoing threats against peace, shaped by persistent armed conflicts and geopolitical tensions in many regions of the world,” Archbishop Gintaras Grušas of Vilnius made “a strong common appeal to pray for peace, in whatsoever liturgical form you see fit, especially during the upcoming Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, so that this unity may be achieved not only among Christians but also among all the parties in conflict with each other.”

Archbishop Grušas made his appeal in a January 12 letter to presidents of the various European bishops’ conferences.

In a letter to the director of La Repubblica for the Italian newspaper’s 50th anniversary, Pope Leo XIV paid tribute to freedom of the press and said that the press should be “animated by the search for truth.”