Hospitals are privileged places of evangelization: Archbp. Zimoswki
November 13, 2012: "The hospital, a place of evangelization, human and spiritual
mission" will be the theme for the XXVII International Conference of the Pontifical
Council for health Professionals scheduled for 15 to 17 at the Vatican, revealed at
a press conference in Rome on Tuesday. Preach as you go… and heal the sick, is
the mandate of Jesus upon which two of the core activities of the church - the proclamation
of the Word and the care of the sick. Both of these are considered traditionally mission
specific areas, said Archbishop Zygmunt Zimoswki, President of the President of the
Pontifical Council for Health Care Workers, at the press conference. The hospitals
taken into account, in harmony with the Current Year of Faith and the recent XIII
Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, in their capacity as privileged
places of evangelization in countries technologically advanced, where today more than
ever are the crossroads of cultures and religions. Archbishop Zimoswki also said
that in most economically backward countries, there exist serious lack of even access
to basic health care and often people die from the lack of drugs which cost just a
few dollars, as in the case of treatment for malaria. They also lack basic diagnostic
instruments and specialized training of health personnel, he added. The little
available to these hospitals active in the poorest regions, I would like to emphasize,
is used in favor of the population, without distinction of creed or ethnicity. The
Archbishop also informed that the 3-day meeting will be devoted to the study of all
aspects of hospitals in their essence as privileged spaces, both to fulfill individual
and collectively baptismal mandate, proclaiming the Good News, and to recognize and
meet the Face of Christ, imitating the Gospel parable of the Good Samaritan. The
meeting will be opened by a Mass in St. Peter presided over Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone,
Secretary of State, and dedicated to the theme "History and Mission". The second
day will focus on "Ethics and Humanization" and then on "Spirituality and Diakonia
of Charity."