Priests and bishops who have spoken out against MAID

(If you know of a Priest or Bishop who has spoken out against MAID, please provide me with a link and I will update this entry to reflect that.)

Priests for Life here and here.

Fr Mark Goring speaking from the pulpit (this seems me to be the most effective way to speak directly to Catholics).

The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) acts as the collective voice, several high-ranking Canadian clergy and individual priests have been particularly vocal in their opposition to Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD). Their advocacy often focuses on legal challenges, public statements, and pastoral warnings about the expansion of eligibility. [1, 2, 3]

Prominent Archbishops & Bishops

• Cardinal Francis (Frank) Leo (Archbishop of Toronto): In April 2026, he wrote directly to Prime Minister Mark Carney and Members of Parliament to advocate for Bill C-218, which seeks to exclude mental illness as a sole condition for MAiD. He urged a "free vote" on the legislation, calling for a "civilization that cares for those suffering and does not eliminate them".
• Archbishop Christian Lépine (Archbishop of Montreal): He launched a significant legal challenge in February 2024 against Quebec's end-of-life legislation. He argues that forcing Catholic palliative care centers like St. Raphael's to offer MAiD violates institutional freedom of conscience.
• Bishop Mark Hagemoen (Bishop of Saskatoon): Along with other Saskatchewan bishops, he issued a pastoral letter titled "Dying with Hope: Living and Walking Together" in April 2025. He has publicly criticized the "romanticized accounts" of assisted suicide in mainstream culture and advocated for increased mental health resources.
• Archbishop J. Michael Miller (Archbishop of Vancouver): He released specific guidelines as early as 2017 regarding the pastoral care of those considering MAiD, emphasizing that life is sacred from conception to natural death. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8]

Individual Priests & Pastoral Voices

• Fr. Larry Holland (Archdiocese of Vancouver): He shared a personal account of being twice offered MAiD by hospital staff while recovering from a hip fracture in 2026. He spoke out against the "coercive" nature of medical staff initiating these conversations with patients who have deeply held religious objections.
• Fr. Lynn (Vancouver): In interviews, he described the practice of medical practitioners proactively offering MAiD to vulnerable persons as "diabolical" and an attack on patient identity.
• Fr. William Ha and Bishop Gordon (Victoria): Participated in a panel discussion at St. Andrew's Cathedral in 2026 to discuss the "cultural shift" regarding human worth and the dangers of expanding MAiD criteria.
• Fr. Tadeusz Pacholczyk (National Catholic Bioethics Center): Though a bioethicist, he provides widely used commentary in Canada criticizing the "idolizing" of medical power and science over the sanctity of life. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]

Are priests and bishops educating Catholics about MAID?

An online survey conducted in Edmonton in 2023 by the Catholic Archdiocese of Edmonton tells us that 75.7 % of Catholics polled oppose MAID. Which means that 24.3 % either fully support MAID or are not sure what they support. 

Then there are polls done by Dying with Dignity Canada (Canada's poisoning lobby) in 2023. These results are even worse. They tell us that 83% of Catholics support MAID. (DWDC's repeated polls provide similar results.)

Regardless of the actual number of Catholics who support MAID, one is too many. The question we must ask ourselves is this. Are our bishops and priests educating their congregants about the reality of MAID and how Canada leads the world in killing its citizens? From the Edmonton survey and the comments from poll participants, we get these comments:

"At the same time, they [the respondents] want the Church to be firmer, clearer, and more vocal on their stance."

• “No one opposed this vocally. And the dead received a Catholic funeral. The priest knew MAiD had been used.”
• I feel Canadian Bishops and priests should be more outspoken on how unjust and sinful it is.”
• “Our lack of action speaks louder than our occasional tepid objection. We’ve reached the cold mathematics at the crossroads of history and a Loving living God who is the reality of Love and Justice bound perfectly. There’s a price to pay for our active deliberate omission, our failures in duty.”
• “The Catholic Church needs to take a strong, vocal stance against MAiD.I am surprised that it has not done more then it has. The bishops letter opposing MAiD is not enough.”
• “The church should be solid in their commitments and many Catholics are not aware of where the Church stands. In our day there is SO MUCH 'garbage' thrown at us we sometimes get very confused and muddled.”

There is also a lot of misunderstanding about MAID from Catholics: When asked who can ask for MAiD, their answers: 

• Anyone (mentioned at least 100 times) 
• Pretty much anyone
• Probably anyone. It’s another thing if they are granted help.
• Anyone can ask. 
• Terminally ill persons, some mental health reasons. 
• Now? Almost anyone. 
• Anyone 18 years old and older. 
• The individual 
• Almost everyone who is struggling with mental illness or medical illness
• Anyone with a physical or mental disability that ruins their quality of life

And these troubling comments from Catholics:

Here are instances of priests and bishops who have spoken out against MAID. This is all good but is it enough? I don't think it is, if we are to believe the polls.