April 26, 2012: An International Study Meeting and conference is organized at the
Vatican City on 4-5 May 2012 by the Pontifical Council for Health Care Workers in
collaboration with CMB-Italia (Christian Missions for the Blind in the World). This
conference will take place within the framework of the ‘Good Samaritan’ Foundation
which was instituted on 12 September 2004 by the Blessed John Paul II with the aim
of providing economic support to those sick people most in need, and in particular
people afflicted by AIDS, who ask for a gesture of supportive love from the Church.
This
meeting seeks to be an occasion for in-depth analysis and dialogue in relation to
the subjects of the prevention and treatment of blindness and poor sight, according
to the new perspectives of study and research, taking into account, as well, the experience
that has been matured through traditional approaches. In addition, this will be an
occasion to promote above all the pastoral dimension that provides help to non-sighted
people but also to encourage all national and international, ecclesial and institutional
organisations to achieve one of the priority objectives of the fight against blindness:
universal and free access to treatment.
This conference will begin from an
analysis of the portrayal of non-sighted people in Holy Scripture and in the historical
concern of the Church for non-sighted people. A series of important contributions
will follow given by experts in the field who will explore the principal causes of
avoidable blindness and the models for prevention, treatment and rehabilitation. An
important aspect of the conference will be on pastoral care and ecclesial projects
for the non-sighted, with important testimonies offered from the five continents of
the world.
Speakers of a high human, theological-pastoral, medical-scientific,
educational and social character will help those taking part in the conference to
find practical answers to the need for accompanying and treatment of non-sighted people.