Canadian Bishop will serve as Pontifical Consultant

On Tuesday of this week (June 13, 2017), His Holiness, Pope Francis appointed the Ordinary Members of the Pontifical Academy for Life.  These include fifty experts from various corners of the world.

The Pontifical Academy for Life, founded by Pope John Paul II, exists for the promotion and defence of human life, especially regarding bioethics as it regards Christian morality. Its statute was defined by the motu proprio Vitae Mysterium of Pope John Paul II on 11 February 1994.

Among those who have been appointed as Ordinary Members of the Academy is a Canadian Bishop, His Excellency, Noël Simard, Bishop of Valleyfield (Quebec).  Bishop Simard currently serves as the French-language spokesman for the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops for Bioethics questions, especially in the field of euthanasia.