Euthanasia Bill Rapporteur Attends Mass, Takes Offense at Anti-Euthanasia Homily
"One does not care for life by giving death," Father François Yambressinga, parish priest of La Madeleine in Châteaudun, said during his July 5 homily, before the French National Assembly's final vote on legalizing euthanasia tomorrow. He urged the faithful to "pray for life" and to "pray for parliamentarians so that they do not do just anything."
Among the congregation was Philippe Vigier, the bill's general rapporteur. He is also the mayor of Châteaudun and a member of the National Assembly for Les Démocrates.
Vigier attended the Mass because it was part of the town's annual Foire aux Laines medieval festival. Civic officials appear in costume. He sat in the front row dressed as the fifteenth-century military commander Jean de Dunois.
Afterward, Vigier told L'Écho Républicain that he felt personally targeted and "deeply hurt" by the homily. "The priest appealed to the congregation while I had no opportunity to respond. That is unacceptable," he said.
According to witnesses cited by the newspaper, Vigier confronted the priest after Mass, insisting that "it was neither the place nor the time" to discuss assisted dying because the event was part of a medieval festival.
The Diocese of Chartres rejected the accusation, noting that the priest never mentioned Vigier by name and did not even know he was the bill's rapporteur.
He "simply did his job, like every priest in France," diocesan spokeswoman said. "He reminded the faithful that the Church opposes every form of euthanasia and assisted suicide while calling for the development of palliative care. That is hardly news."
She added that Father François, "who is gentleness itself," had no intention of singling out Vigier personally.
The Bishop of Chartres, Philippe Christory, also wrote to Vigier, reaffirming the Church's teaching and explaining that a priest has both the right and the duty to preach it from the pulpit. According to the diocese, the bishop also declined Vigier's request for a public apology.
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