Medicine Cannot Become Servant of Death, Says Pope

How about placing all those countries that have "assisted suicide" (and US States) under interdict? Start with Canada, which is about to legalise the murder of the mentally ill.

From Aleteia

By I. Media

Marking the 100th birthday of Jérôme Lejeune, the French geneticist who discovered the cause of Down syndrome, Pope Leo made a passionate defense of life.

A doctor should never allow himself "to decide the fate of a particular embryo or an elderly person! Medicine can never become the servant of programmed death!" This was the warning issued by Leo XIV, who received members of the Jérôme Lejeune Foundation on June 22, 2026, at the Vatican to mark the centenary of the French geneticist’s birth (June 13, 1926– April 3, 1994).

During the audience, the Pope praised the work of this doctor who pioneered research into Down syndrome. Reading his speech in French, he encouraged healthcare professionals to follow Dr. Lejeune's example and choose “the courage of truth.”

In front of an audience of 80 people, including Professor Jérôme Lejeune’s children, the head of the Catholic Church paid tribute to this “man of science and wisdom” who became “the forerunner of modern genetics” through his discovery of the chromosomal abnormality responsible for trisomy 21. He emphasized Lejeune’s compassion for children with disabilities, whom he called “the poorest of the poor,” as well as his fight for “the life and dignity of the most vulnerable, even at the cost of his career.”

Indeed, realizing that his scientific discovery “would be used to eliminate people with trisomy 21 before their birth,” Jérôme Lejeune became their advocate, “denouncing the violation of the Hippocratic Oath and this new form of eugenics, which he described as ‘chromosomal racism.’” He added that his defense of “the life of every human person” before “institutions and sovereigns throughout the world” led to him “being treated harshly in certain scientific circles.”

“A person’s worth does not depend on what they produce”

The Pope warned against the danger of using technology “against medicine” when it “escapes all essential ethical control and is governed by considerations of efficiency, profitability or utility.” “The value of a person does not depend on what they achieve or produce,” he emphasized.

Ahead of his apostolic journey to France, and while the law on end-of-life care — establishing a ‘right to die’ — is currently being debated in France's National Assembly, Leo XIV affirmed that “medicine can never become the servant of planned death.”

“No doctor should ever allow themselves, on the basis of laboratory algorithms, to decide on the life of a particular embryo or an elderly person,” he insisted.

Among the delegation, which included people with Down syndrome and their carers, these words evoked a strong emotional response. Marion, the Foundation’s advocacy officer, praised the speech as “magnificently well prepared.” She expressed the hope that the Pope’s words would carry weight in the context of the “terrible debates” resuming this Monday at the Palais Bourbon, which could lead to the legalization of euthanasia.

To healthcare professionals: Reject the “lie”

Throughout his address, Léon XIV also recalled that Professor Lejeune had been honoured by several popes: Paul VI appointed him a member of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences; and the Frenchman was instrumental in the creation of the Pontifical Academy for Life during the pontificate of John Paul II, with whom he formed a friendship.

The Pope encouraged the Lejeune Foundation to continue its commitment to research, care, and “the unconditional defense of the human person.” He praised the institution’s initiatives in research into genetically-based intellectual disabilities, in the field of training, and its work with public authorities.

Finally, Leo XIV expressed the hope that Jérôme Lejeune, whose cause for beatification is currently underway at the Vatican – he has been recognized as ‘Venerable’ since 2021 – would inspire "the courage to speak the truth in the many young people and professionals seeking coherence." He urged them to unite, “without rigidity, reason and faith, words and deeds, non-judgement of others and the rejection of falsehood.”

[Note: A full, official Vatican translation of the French text into English will be added to this article when available. For now, quotes are an Aleteia translation.]