Defend the most vulnerable, Pope Benedict XVI urges doctors

(May 17, 2006) : Pope Benedict XVI encouraged doctors to defend the life of the most defenceless, especially the unborn, the elderly and the terminally ill. The Pontiff made these remarks Sunday in a message to a 1,000 participants of world congress of Catholic Doctors held in Barcelona, Spain and to 40,000 doctors worldwide associated with the Federation of Catholic Medical Associations (FIAMC). The theme of the four-day congress which ended on Sunday May 14^th was "Catholic Doctors and the Challenge of Poverty in the Era of Globalization." The message invited the participants and the doctors worldwide “to be aware of the close relationship between health care and the promotion of the human person, avoiding that ambiguous, reductive and even ideological view of health which does not take into account all the aspects of the person in his harmonious and reciprocal unity. Following his example, every Christian is called to approach the sick with mercy, aware that he serves Christ himself," the message read. Pope Benedict invited doctors "once again to promote initiatives in the field of health care, geared to sensitizing many men and women of good will so that, as Good Samaritans, they assist with fraternal generosity those who are submerged in poverty or marginalization."