Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vatican City (Fides Service) - On 22 March in the Vatican Benedict XVI received participants in the plenary session of the Pontifical Council for Health Pastoral Care. In his talk to them the Pope affirmed that “health pastoral care is an evangelical field par excellence that immediately calls to mind the work of Jesus, the Good Samaritan of humankind. When He passed through the villages of Palestine to announce the good news of the Kingdom of God, He always accompanied His preaching with the signs He worked upon the sick. The health of man, of all of man, was the sign that Jesus chose to express the proximity of God and His merciful love that heals the spirit, the soul and the body," and this must be a reference for all activity in this field said the Holy Father.
“Helping human beings is a duty, both as a response to a fundamental right and because the cure of individuals works for the benefit of the community as a whole” the Pope said reminding those present that “respect for and faith in healthcare workers is proportional to the conviction that these defenders of life will never despise a human existence, however handicapped it may be, and will always encourage attempts at treatment. The commitment to treatment must, then, be extended to all human beings”.
The Pope continued: “Christian health workers are aware of the close and indissoluble bond that exists between their professional service and the virtue of charity to which Christ calls them: it is precisely by carrying out their work well that they bear witness to the love of God. Charity, the task of the Church and the subject of my Encyclical ‘Deus caritas est’, is especially significant in caring for the sick. This is seen in the history of the Church and the witness of countless men and women who worked in this field individually and as members of associations”.
The Holy Father ideally consigned to those present the reflections contained in the Encyclical “Deus caritas est” and relative pastoral guidelines with regard to the charity services of the Church as "community of love", and he added the apostolic post-synodal exhortation which treats with the Eucharist as "Sacrament of Charity", since “it is precisely from the Eucharist that health pastoral can continue to draw the strength to offer effective assistance to people and promote their dignity - The Pope said and concluded: The beating heart of every hospital and clinic is the chapel where Jesus continues to offer himself to the heavenly Father for the life of humanity. The Eucharist, administered decorously and prayerfully to the sick, is a vital lymph that comforts them and gives their souls the interior light necessary to live their infirmity and suffering with faith and hope.”. (S.L.) (Agenzia Fides 23/3/2007 - righe 34, parole 476)
