Toronto, May 4, 2026
Fr. Paul Tadros. Photo: St. Silouan the Athonite Orthodox Church
An Orthodox priest in Toronto has called on Prime Minister Mark Carney to halt the planned expansion of Canada’s euthanasia/assisted suicide program, Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD), to include people whose sole underlying medical condition is mental illness, citing concerns about vulnerable populations and the adequacy of mental health supports.
Fr. Paul Tadros of St. Silouan the Athonite Orthodox Church, part of the American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, wrote to the Prime Minister on behalf of his parish community to express “grave concerns” about the expansion currently scheduled for March 17, 2027.
Canada’s MAiD law was originally legalized in 2016 for adults with terminal illnesses, and was expanded in 2021 to include people whose natural death was not reasonably foreseeable. The expansion to include mental illness as a sole underlying medical condition has been delayed multiple times, most recently pushed from 2024 to 2027.
In his letter, Fr. Paul draws on his parish’s seven-year experience running the Noble Joseph House hospitality ministry in Regent Park. “We have served thousands of meals, offered medical services to hundreds, and spent countless hours sharing in both the joys and sorrows of many people who would fall under this expanded criterion for MAiD,” he writes.
Fr. Paul argues that “a truly compassionate society is measured not by how efficiently it facilitates death, but by how faithfully it accompanies those who suffer.” He notes that people with mental health disorders “are often living in states of impaired judgment, or despair, which complicates the possibility of meaningful consent.”
He emphasizes that social factors such as “loneliness, poverty, addiction, trauma, and the lack of supportive care can heavily influence such decisions,” and that “in cases of mental illness, the desire to die can itself be a symptom of the illness.”
Fr. Paul concludes his letter by urging the government to “reconsider this expansion and instead direct its efforts toward strengthening the systems of care that uphold the dignity and wellbeing of vulnerable Canadians.”
Read Fr. Paul’s full letter:
Source: St. Silouan the Athonite Orthodox Church
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