Norwegian Bishops Hail Committee’s No to Euthanasia
Oslo and Trondheim bishops urge care and palliative medicine, warning legal euthanasia can pressure the vulnerable into feeling like a burden.
Catholic bishops in Norway welcomed a parliamentary committee’s rejection of a proposal asking the government to consider introducing euthanasia and assisted suicide into national law.
On November 5, 2026, the Catholic Church in Norway expressed satisfaction at the committee’s stance against the measure advanced by the Venstre party. Bishop Fredrik Hansen of Oslo said, “We are really glad the Committee said no.” He added, “As we pointed out at our hearing, Norway does not need a new public select committee to learn about the consequences of euthanasia. The experiences of such countries as Canada, the Netherlands and Belgium already give us serious reasons for abstaining from making it legal.”
Dignity Beyond Independence
The Church’s principal criticism was that the bill’s text defined euthanasia as a right. Bishop Erik Varden of Trondheim warned, “When euthanasia becomes a legal option, there is the risk that seriously ill, old and disabled people start to wonder whether they should choose death so as not to be a burden on other people. No one should feel such pressure. Human dignity does not depend on our independence or on our health. Man’s value does not decrease when we need other people. It is this fundamental principle that we must stick to.”
According to the bishops, the proper response to suffering lies in care, in strengthening palliative medicine, in looking after the elderly, and in supporting people with disabilities. The sources do not specify the exact date of the committee vote itself, only the date of the bishops’ public reaction.
The decision aligns with the Church’s constant teaching that human life is a gift to be protected from conception to natural death, and that true compassion accompanies the dying rather than ending their lives. Norwegian Catholics and other defenders of life see the committee’s refusal as a clear signal that society need not follow the path taken elsewhere, where legalization has expanded far beyond original limits and has left the weak feeling they must justify their continued existence.