November 16, 2014|8:19 am

Pope Francis prays at the Austro-Hungarian cemetery of Fogliano in Redipuglia, Italy, September 13, 2014. Pope Francis marked the centenary of World War I at the Redipuglia Military Sacrarium with a mass.

Euthanasia does not reflect dignity but is, in fact, a sin against God and creation and a "false sense of compassion," Pope Francis said Saturday, denouncing the right-to-die movement. The pontiff also rejected abortion, in vitro fertilization and embryonic stem cell research.

"We're are living in a time of experimentation with life. But a bad experiment (we're) playing with life," he said, addressing about 4,000 doctors from the Association of Italian Catholic Doctors in the Vatican, according to Catholic News Agency.

"Be careful, because this is a sin against the Creator: against God the Creator," the pope said, adding that the assisted suicide movement can be attributed to a "throw-away culture" that sees the sick and elderly as a burden on society.

It's like telling God, "'At the end of life I do it, like I want.' It's a sin against God. Think well about this."

Pope's remarks come about a fortnight after California woman Brittany Maynard, who had terminal brain cancer, decided to end her own life.

Francis blasted the notion that abortion is good for women or euthanasia is "an act of dignity," or "a scientific breakthrough to 'produce' a child (who is) considered a right instead of accepted as a gift." He also denounced "(the) use of human life as laboratory mice supposedly to save others."

The pope went on to say that medical science appears to have diminished "the ability to 'take care' of the person, especially when they are suffering, fragile and defenseless."

He encouraged medical professionals to take "courageous and against-the-grain" decisions in line with church teaching on the dignity of life. "Your mission as doctors puts you in daily contact with so many forms of suffering," he said.

Continued here:
Pope Says Euthanasia Is 'Sin Against God;' Blasts Abortion, Stem-Cell Research