Pope Benedict XVI's Message for the nineteenth World Day of the Sick was presented
Thursday and a seminar on the theme on the theme "Catholic healthcare associations
and the culture of life", due to be held on 5 February at Rome's St. Pius X Auditorium
to mark the end of the twenty-fifth anniversary celebrations of the Pontifical Council
for Health Pastoral Care.
Participating in today's conference were Archbishop
Zygmunt Zimowski, Bishop Jose Luis Redrado Marchite O.H. and Msgr. Jean-Marie Mpendawatu
Mate Musivi, respectively president, secretary and under secretary of the Pontifical
Council for Health Pastoral Care, and Rosa Merola, consultor of the pontifical council
and psychologist at Rome's Rebibbia prison.
Archbishop Zimowski explained how
Benedict XVI's Message - published on 18 December 2010 - encourages people to reflect
"on the mystery of human suffering in the light of Christian faith. At the same time
it promotes greater sensitivity, within Christian communities and civil society, towards
our brothers and sisters who are experiencing situations of suffering and illness,
that no-one may be abandoned or deprived of the treatment they need.
"From
this perspective", he added, "the Pope immediately highlights three fundamental preconditions
for achieving authentic healthcare renewal, beginning with the weakest sectors of
the world population. ... The first of these concerns the centrality of human beings,
who must be given care and attention, and even more so if they find themselves in
conditions of want, suffering or marginalisation. ...In the second place, there is
need for an authentic humanisation of the field of healthcare. ... The third point
concerns the commitment of the particular Churches, and the Pope invites dioceses
all over the world to strive to ensure that the care of sick and suffering people
may be improved and made more effective".
The president of the Pontifical
Council for Health Pastoral Care also noted that in this year's Message "the Holy
Father calls for serious reflection on certain fundamental themes, beginning with
the 'mystery of suffering'. This is necessary, on the one hand, in order to recognise
the source of our light and hope and to find the strength to live through a period
of suffering and, on the other, to recognise the ... ways in which we are called to
care for sick and/or afflicted people".
"The World Day of the Sick, and suffering
in general, are nor limited to the elderly, Benedict XVI explains in his Message.
Thus, he also calls on young people - the sick and the healthy - to build bridges
of love and solidarity, and to do so on the foundation of the Eucharist", where Christ
"gives Himself to us for Love, to make us participants in His life". At the same time
the Pope invites us "to recognise and serve Christ in the face and condition of our
poor, afflicted, weak brothers and sisters".
The Pope's Message, Archbishop
Zimowski concluded his remarks, "ends with an appeal addressed to everyone, especially
to those who, with various roles and responsibilities (including volunteers to whom
a recently-inaugurated European Year has been dedicated), work in the field of healthcare
and treatment for the sick and suffering".