Welsh Prelates’ Tepid Opposition to Assisted Suicide Bill Exposes Modernist Compromise
EWTN News reports (January 26, 2026) that two Welsh bishops – Mark O’Toole of Cardiff-Menevia and Peter Brignall of Wrexham – issued a joint statement expressing “deep concern” about the UK’s Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill. The bill would permit assisted suicide for adults with less than six months to live. The bishops urged the Welsh Senedd to withhold consent for this legislation in devolved health matters, arguing it would endanger vulnerable people and calling instead for improved palliative care. They declared the “right response to suffering is not to hasten death,” while inviting Catholics to a day of fasting on January 26. The Welsh government maintains neutrality, claiming the vote simply allows Senedd members to voice their position.
Naturalistic Reduction of Moral Law to Secular Pragmatism
The bishops’ statement reduces the intrinsece malum (intrinsically evil) nature of suicide to a mere policy concern about “safeguarding vulnerable people.” This directly contradicts Pius XII’s absolute condemnation in his 1957 allocution to anesthesiologists: “Non licet homini destruere vitam humanam” (It is not lawful for man to destroy human life). By framing their opposition through secular arguments about “social attitudes towards disability” rather than divine law, the bishops implicitly accept the Enlightenment error condemned in Pius IX’s Syllabus of Errors (1864): “Human reason […] is the sole arbiter of truth and falsehood, and of good and evil” (Proposition 3).
Their spokesperson’s claim that concerns are “not based solely on theology” betrays the Modernist tendency to subordinate supernatural truth to naturalistic reasoning. As St. Pius X warned in Pascendi Dominici Gregis (1907), Modernists “make the lay state a species of priesthood” by elevating secular perspectives to equal footing with revealed truth. The bishops’ emphasis on “health care, safeguarding, and social attitudes” while avoiding terms like mortal sin, eternal damnation, or violation of God’s sovereignty reveals a thoroughly naturalized theology.
Dangerous Concessions to the Culture of Death
The statement’s weakness is epitomized in the spokesperson’s admission: “When people feel well cared for […] the perceived demand for assisted suicide diminishes significantly.” This concedes the fundamental premise that suicide could be permissible under “better” circumstances, violating the Church’s perennial teaching that no human authority can legitimize what God forbids. Leo XIII’s Libertas Praestantissimum (1888) explicitly condemned such moral relativism: “Nec vero cuiquam hic licet erga illas licentiam sibi arrogare, ut, quod honestum est, id non honestum declaret” (Nor does anyone have license to arrogate to himself the power to declare what is honorable as dishonorable).
The bishops fail to reference key doctrinal documents that demolish their opponents’ arguments:
“Euthanasia is a crime against human life… No authority can legitimately recommend or permit such an action” (Pius XII, Address to International College of Neuro-Psychopharmacology, September 9, 1958)
Nor do they cite Pius XI’s encyclical Casti Connubii (1930), which established that civil laws permitting intrinsic evils “nullum habent potestatis vinculum” (have no binding power). Their silence on the eternal consequences of suicide – the rejection of God’s gift of life and final impenitence – constitutes pastoral malpractice.
Omission of the Kingship of Christ Over Civil Laws
Most gravely, the bishops neglect to affirm Christ’s royal authority over legislatures, despite Wales having been consecrated to Christ the King in 1932. Pius XI’s Quas Primas (1925) explicitly taught: “Rulers of states […] must fulfill their duty themselves and with their people […] if they wish to maintain their authority inviolate and contribute to the increase of their homeland’s happiness.” By not demanding the Senedd recognize Christ’s supremacy, the bishops enable the modernist error condemned in the Syllabus of Errors: “The State […] is not bound to obey the Church in matters of religion, morals, or spiritual governance” (Proposition 44).
Their call for fasting lacks the doctrinal foundation seen in traditional Catholic resistance. Contrast their vague “solidarity with the vulnerable” with St. Alphonsus Liguori’s teaching: “Fasting is the soul of prayer, mercy is the lifeblood of fasting. If you want your petitions to be heard, hear the petitions of others” (Sermons, 1759). The bishops never mention fasting’s purpose as reparation for legislative blasphemy or conversion of apostate lawmakers.
Theological Cowardice in the Face of Modernity
The spokesperson’s claim that “many people who oppose assisted suicide do so from secular […] perspectives” reveals a post-conciliar obsession with seeking common ground with unbelief. This contradicts St. Pius X’s condemnation in Lamentabili Sane (1907) of those who “equate revelation with man’s self-awareness of his relationship to God” (Proposition 20). True shepherds would echo St. Augustine’s uncompromising stance: “Roma locuta est; causa finita est” (Rome has spoken; the case is closed) when confronted with moral errors, not seek validation from disability-rights activists.
The bishops’ proposed alternative – “sustained investment in high-quality palliative care” – ignores the supernatural purpose of suffering taught by Paul VI: “In the Cross of Christ not only is the Redemption accomplished through suffering, but also human suffering itself has been redeemed” (Salvifici Doloris, 1984). Nowhere do they mention offering suffering in reparation for sin or union with Christ’s Passion, reducing Catholic morality to social work.
Ultimately, this anemic response exemplifies why the conciliar sect cannot effectively combat the culture of death. As Our Lord warned: “If the salt loses its savor, with what shall it be salted?” (Matthew 5:13). Until Wales returns to integral Catholic faith under Christ the King, no parliamentary maneuvers will stem its suicidal decline.
Source:
Bishops urge Welsh Senedd to reject UK’s assisted suicide bill ahead of vote (ewtnnews.com)
Date: 26.01.2026