Some religious experts say the schism is the product of Pope Francis’s arrival at the helm of the Catholic Church in 2013, and his emphasis on tolerance and compassion. The document describes how physician-assisted death is a “grave sin” and contradicts the teachings of the Catholic Church. Death by assisted suicide and euthanasia are grave violations of the law of God, the document says. “It’s not necessarily that there’s a schism over the church teaching, at least in the hierarchy or the leadership of the church,” Agnew said. But the church ultimately opposes assisted death and prefers palliative care, he added.

Source: National Post October 09, 2016 14:15 UTC