{"id":18042,"date":"2026-02-20T03:14:22","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T08:14:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vivredignite.org\/?p=18042"},"modified":"2026-02-20T03:26:05","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T08:26:05","slug":"body-and-soul-for-human-dignity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vivredignite.org\/en\/body-and-soul-for-human-dignity\/","title":{"rendered":"Thomas De Koninck (1934\u20132026)"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Body and Soul for Human Dignity<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Official Photo - Universit\u00e9 Laval<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Montr\u00e9al,\nFebruary 20, 2025<\/span><\/b> \u2013 The Living with Dignity citizen network wishes to\nextend its condolences to the family and loved ones of a great Qu\u00e9bec professor\nand philosopher,
\nMr. Thomas De Koninck, who passed away on February 16th in Qu\u00e9bec City.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>

Since the\nannouncement of his passing, tributes and praise have poured in across the\nmedia and social networks. His\nson Marc<\/a>, Universit\u00e9\nLaval<\/a>, and MNA\nSol Zanetti<\/a> have already highlighted the exceptional contribution of this\nman of intellect and generous heart. Did he inspire the character of The\nLittle Prince<\/i> by Antoine de Saint-Exup\u00e9ry, as\nauthor Christine Michaud reminds us<\/a>? His contribution to intellectual life,\nin Qu\u00e9bec and internationally, is beyond dispute.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>

As many have\nnoted, his contribution to the question of human dignity was often at the heart\nof his civic engagement. This was recognized on numerous occasions, notably\nwith the awarding of the La Bruy\u00e8re Prize by the Acad\u00e9mie fran\u00e7aise for his\nbook De la dignit\u00e9 humaine<\/i> in 1996.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>

His deep\ncommitment to this issue made him an important voice in the debates surrounding\nend-of-life care in Qu\u00e9bec and a formidable ally of our cause. Over the years,\nhis only two appearances before the National Assembly of Qu\u00e9bec addressed this\nsubject (2010: written\nbrief<\/a> and video\ntestimony<\/a>; 2021: written\nbrief<\/a> and video\ntestimony<\/a>).<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>

We reproduce\nhere the conclusion of his brief submitted to the Select Committee on Dying\nwith Dignity in 2010:<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>

For my part, I\nam deeply convinced, with arguments to support this view, that every human\nbeing, whoever they may be and whatever their condition, is unique in the world\nand possesses equal dignity \u2014 that of being an end in themselves. One can\ntherefore never say or think: \u201che does not matter,\u201d or \u201cher life is no longer\nworth living.\u201d With human dignity understood in this rigorous sense, which\nstands in contrast to the Roman concept of dignitas of old, no compromise is\npossible.
Every human being matters.<\/o:p><\/span><\/i><\/p>

This conviction\nled him on many occasions to speak in favour of the \u201ctreasure of palliative\ncare\u201d and to oppose all forms of euthanasia and assisted suicide \u2014 the\nexpression \u201cmedical assistance in dying\u201d (MAiD) remained, in his view, an\noxymoron.<\/o:p><\/i><\/span><\/p>

\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>

As French\nlawmakers debate this week the possibility of establishing a \u201cright to\nassistance in dying,\u201d and as the expansion in Canada of eligibility for MAiD in\ncases of mental illness remains scheduled for March 2027, the work of Thomas De\nKoninck calls for reflection.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Media contact<\/span><\/font>:

Jasmin Lemieux-Lefebvre
Coordinator
Living with Dignity citizen network
<\/span>info@vivredignite.org<\/span><\/a>
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Body and Soul for Human Dignity<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOfficial Photo – Universit\u00e9 Laval
\nMontr\u00e9al,
\nFebruary 20, 2025 \u2013 The Living with Dignity citizen network wishes to
\nextend its condolences to the …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[290],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18042","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vivredignite.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18042","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vivredignite.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vivredignite.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vivredignite.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vivredignite.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18042"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/vivredignite.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18042\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18046,"href":"https:\/\/vivredignite.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18042\/revisions\/18046"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vivredignite.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18042"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vivredignite.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18042"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vivredignite.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18042"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}