Life is worth living November 9, 2026By Archbishop William E. Lori Catholic Review Filed Under: Charity in Truth, Commentary, Respect Life The beatification of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen was truly beautiful. Some 80 bishops and nearly 1,000 priests took part. An estimated 800 seminarians were there. And nearly 50,000 members of the lay faithful. Some were a bit older (including me), but many were younger – far too young to have watched him on television as I did. But they were there. Though he reached the peak of his fame in the late 1950s and died in 1979, Blessed Fulton Sheen continues to communicate to us a message of hope: “Life is worth living.” In fact, that was the title of his television program: “Life Is Worth Living.” It is a timeless message – timeless because Blessed Fulton Sheen was not selective about whose life is worth living. His message of hope was meant for everyone. He didn’t exclude the sick and the dying or the elderly or the chronically ill. He was a passionate advocate for the sanctity of life from the moment of conception until natural death. Every life, in his eyes, is worth living. Why did he think and speak like that? Was it because he was doubling down on the rules of his Church? Or because he was intent on imposing a sectarian message on the wider culture? The answer is none of the above. Archbishop Sheen was a man of reason, faith and compassion. He had a profound grasp of the reasonableness of human dignity at every stage of life. As a believer, he worshipped Christ who took flesh in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary. As priest and bishop, he was well-acquainted with human infirmity and helped countless people to find the pathway to God in their sufferings – as he did in his sufferings. Above all, he knew and taught that life is worth living because it is God’s gift. Most of us would readily agree with the proposition that life is worth living. Most of us would agree with the proposition that human life is endowed by God with dignity. Yet our adherence to that proposition is often tested by a culture which denies the dignity of the human person by laws and policies such as abortion-on-demand and proposals for physician-assisted suicide. Such laws and proposed laws proclaim loud and clear that some lives are not worth living. Who gets to decide? Years ago, a couple came to me heartbroken. They conceived a child diagnosed with Down syndrome. Their doctor pressed them to get an abortion. They did and lived to regret it. Another couple told me how a nursing home repeatedly urged them to consent to death-hastening drugs for a dying but still fully conscious parent. They reluctantly did so but then regretted giving into the pressure exerted upon them. It is likely that another physician-assisted suicide bill will be proposed in the 2027 Maryland General Assembly. It is said by some that such laws preserve human dignity because they enable suffering people to make their own decision about living or dying. This includes people who are temporarily depressed and people who could recover from an illness. What goes unspoken is the pressure that will be exerted on the suffering to end their own lives – by insurance companies and even family members who don’t want to pay for extended care. The freedom to end one’s life quickly morphs into an obligation to take one’s life. This is what has happened in countries such as Canada and the Netherlands. During Pope Leo’s recent visit to Lourdes, he made clear that “it is precisely in the name of this inalienable dignity of the human person that we must reject the temptation to cause death under the guise of false compassion. It is impossible to regard causing death as something normal. What is legal is not necessarily moral.” A civilization is measured by how it treats its most vulnerable citizens. A heartless society does away with those whose lives are inconvenient. A compassionate society accompanies with care and compassion. Let us, as a community of faith, band together to work for a civilization of love and life. Read more respect life Inside Baltimore’s fight against human trafficking Entrepreneur uses tech to combat human trafficking Catholics make the case for care over assisted suicide NY archbishop, archdiocese, healthcare ministry join in suit over state’s assisted suicide law Appeals court rules Idaho abortion ban may be enforced as voters prepare to weigh in Serving vulnerable pregnant and parenting women is ‘heroic’ work, says USCCB pro-life chair Copyright © 2026 Catholic Review Media Print
