Euthanasia deaths soared last year in Canada
The number of Canadians who ended their lives by euthanasia and assisted suicide increased by 17% in 2020, the country’s health department announced on June 7.
According to Abby Hoffman, assistant deputy minister of Health Canada, 7,595 people received “medically assisted deaths” last year, a figure which amounts to 2.5% of all deaths in Canada for the year.
In 2019, 5,631 people died by physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia in Canada, which accounted for 2% of all deaths in the country.
Ms Hoffman revealed the numbers at a joint parliamentary committee meeting. Members of the committee are reviewing the country’s euthanasia practices.
On June 7, Ms Hoffman stated that in 2020, as in years past, cancer was the most commonly-cited illness among people who requested lethal drugs.
Mexican bishops: Respect election results
The Mexican bishops’ conference on Monday asked the political forces in the country to respect the results of June 6 elections and encouraged the resumption of dialogue to find a common path “beyond partisan differences.”
In a June 7 statement the bishops of Mexico praised citizens for their participation but lamented the violence that took place around the elections.
“We note that this has been a political process marked by a great deal of violence, and so we lift up our prayers for those who have taken up the vocation to politics and held up dreams for a better Mexico and have been attacked or lost their lives,” the bishops said.
During the 2021 election cycle, 91 politicians were killed and almost 700 candidates were attacked.
French papal vineyard helps local community
The Benedictine monks and nuns who tend to the first papal vineyard in France have launched an appeal to sell their wine to help the families of local wine growers.
Located in the Rhône Valley, the Abbeys of Le Barroux work together with the local wine-marking community to cultivate the land first established as a vineyard by Pope Clement V in 1309.
The monks are hoping to sell 15,000 bottles of their Via Caritatis wine this month to help support the community after it was hit hard by a loss of sales due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Fr Michael, an American who has been a part of the French monastery for more than 30 years, told CNA that around 80 families directly depend on the winery for their livelihood.
Cardinal ‘worried’ about German ‘Synodal Way’
An influential theologian considered to be close to Pope Francis has said that he is “very worried” about the German Catholic Church’s controversial “Synodal Way”.
Cardinal Walter Kasper said in a June 8 interview with the Passauer Bistumsblatt that he hoped the prayers of faithful Catholics could serve as a corrective.
The 88-year-old German cardinal said: “I have not yet given up hope that the prayers of many faithful Catholics will help to steer the Synodal Way in Germany on Catholic tracks.”
Cardinal Kasper asked: “Why did the Synodal Way not take Pope Francis’ letter more seriously and, as befits a synod, consider the critical questions in the light of the Gospel?”
Commenting on the Synodal Way’s high media profile, he said “It truly does not give a good public image”.
