At noon today, in the Sala Regia at the Vatican Apostolic Palace, the Holy Father, Pope Francis received in audience a group of people participating in the XXX International Conference organized by the Pontifical Council for Health and Pastoral Care which this year has the theme: The Culture of Salus and welcome in service to mankind and to the planet (Vatican, November 19-21, 2015).
Dear brothers and sisters,
Thank you for your welcome! I thank His Excellency, Zygmunt Zimowski for the courteous welcome he has offered me on behalf of all those who are present, and I warmly welcome you all, organizers and participants in this thirtieth International Conference dedicated to The Culture of salus and of welcome in service to mankind and to the planet. Thank you to the entire staff of the Dicastery.
There are many questions which will be dealt with during this annual gathering, which marks the thirtieth anniversary of the work of the Pontifical Council for Health and Pastoral Care which also coincides with the twentieth anniversary of the publication of the Encyclical Letter Evangelium vitae written by Saint John Paul II.
Especially respect for the value of life, and even more, love for it finds its irreplaceable value for the sake of others, drawing them close, taking care of those who suffer in body and in spirit: all actions which characterize pastoral health care. Actions and, more importantly, attitudes which the Church will especially emphasize during the Jubilee of Mercy, which calls all people to be close to our brothers and sisters in their suffering. In Evangelium vitae, we can trace the essential elements of the culture of salus: that is, acceptance, compassion, understanding and forgiveness. These are habitual attitudes we see in the life of Jesus as he faces multitudes of people in need who draw close to him every day: the sick and suffering of every kind, notorious sinners, the possessed, the marginalized, the poor, strangers ... And curiously, these are also the ones who in our current wasteful culture are most often rejected, cast aside. They do not count. It's curious ... What does this mean? That a wasteful culture is not of Jesus. It is not the Christian way.
These attitudes, the Encyclical calls positive requirements of the commandment about the inviolability of life, that through Jesus is revealed in all its breadth and depth, and which even today must characterize the ministry of health care: which includes taking care of the life of a brother (families, belonging to the same people, foreigners who live in the same land of Israel) to taing care of the stranger, even to the point of loving one's enemy (Evangelium vitae, 41).
This closeness to others - serious and ongoing proximity - to the point of knowing them as someone who belongs to me - even an enemy can be to me as a brother - surpasses all barriers of nationality, social background or religion ... as we are taught by the good Samaritan in the biblical parable. It also goes beyond culture in a negative way, both in rich and poor countries, where human beings are accepted or rejected according to their usefulness, especially their social or economic usefulness. This mentality gives birth to the medicine of desire, a custom that is increasingly widespread in rich countries, characterized by the quest for physical perfection at all costs, the illusion of eternal youth; a custom that leads precisely to the practice of discarding or marginalizing those who are not efficient, who are seen as a burden, a disturbance or simply ugly.
In addition, drawing close - as I recalled in my recent Encyclical Laudato Si' - also involves the mandatory practice of taking responsibility for creation and our common home which belongs to everyone and is confided to the care of all people, even to generations yet to come.
The Church's preoccupation is in fact, the preoccupation of the entire human family and of all of creation. It is a matter of teaching everyone to care for and to administer the goods of creation as a whole, as a gift entrusted to the responsibility of every generation so that it can be passed on, all the more integrated and humanly viable for generations to come. This conversion of heart to the gospel of creation means that we must do our part and become interpreters of the cries for human dignity, which come above all from the poor and those who are marginalized, as often is the case of the sick and the suffering. During the approaching Jubilee of Mercy, may this cry find a true echo in our hearts, in order that also in the exercise of the works of mercy, both corporal and spiritual, according to the diverse responsibilities entrusted to each, we may welcome the gift of God's grace, while we ourselves become channels and witnesses of mercy.
I hope that during these days of study and debate, while you also consider the environmental factors and aspects more closely tied to the physical, psychological, spiritual and social health of people, you may contribute to a new development of the culture of salus, understood in an integral sense. I encourage you, in this perspective, to keep always present in your work, the reality of the people who are suffering most due to the damage caused by environmental degradation, which often have severe and permanent consequences for human health. Speaking of damage that is caused due to environmental degradation, for me, it is surprising to find - when I go to the Wednesday audience and I see in parishes - so many sick, especially children ... Their parents tell me: He has a rare illness! They don't know what it is. These rare diseases are the consequence of illness that we have imposed upon the environment, and this is a serious thing!
Let us ask Blessed Mary, Health of the Sick, to accompany the work of your Conference. Let us confide to her the cares that, every day, various professionals in the world of health care develop in order to help those who are suffering. I willingly bless you all, your families, your communities, and also those who we meet in hospitals and nursing homes. I am praying for you; and you too, please pray for me. Thank you.
Speech of the Holy Father, Pope Francis
to participants in the XXX International Conference
on Health and Pastoral Care
Dear brothers and sisters,
Thank you for your welcome! I thank His Excellency, Zygmunt Zimowski for the courteous welcome he has offered me on behalf of all those who are present, and I warmly welcome you all, organizers and participants in this thirtieth International Conference dedicated to The Culture of salus and of welcome in service to mankind and to the planet. Thank you to the entire staff of the Dicastery.
There are many questions which will be dealt with during this annual gathering, which marks the thirtieth anniversary of the work of the Pontifical Council for Health and Pastoral Care which also coincides with the twentieth anniversary of the publication of the Encyclical Letter Evangelium vitae written by Saint John Paul II.
Especially respect for the value of life, and even more, love for it finds its irreplaceable value for the sake of others, drawing them close, taking care of those who suffer in body and in spirit: all actions which characterize pastoral health care. Actions and, more importantly, attitudes which the Church will especially emphasize during the Jubilee of Mercy, which calls all people to be close to our brothers and sisters in their suffering. In Evangelium vitae, we can trace the essential elements of the culture of salus: that is, acceptance, compassion, understanding and forgiveness. These are habitual attitudes we see in the life of Jesus as he faces multitudes of people in need who draw close to him every day: the sick and suffering of every kind, notorious sinners, the possessed, the marginalized, the poor, strangers ... And curiously, these are also the ones who in our current wasteful culture are most often rejected, cast aside. They do not count. It's curious ... What does this mean? That a wasteful culture is not of Jesus. It is not the Christian way.
These attitudes, the Encyclical calls positive requirements of the commandment about the inviolability of life, that through Jesus is revealed in all its breadth and depth, and which even today must characterize the ministry of health care: which includes taking care of the life of a brother (families, belonging to the same people, foreigners who live in the same land of Israel) to taing care of the stranger, even to the point of loving one's enemy (Evangelium vitae, 41).
This closeness to others - serious and ongoing proximity - to the point of knowing them as someone who belongs to me - even an enemy can be to me as a brother - surpasses all barriers of nationality, social background or religion ... as we are taught by the good Samaritan in the biblical parable. It also goes beyond culture in a negative way, both in rich and poor countries, where human beings are accepted or rejected according to their usefulness, especially their social or economic usefulness. This mentality gives birth to the medicine of desire, a custom that is increasingly widespread in rich countries, characterized by the quest for physical perfection at all costs, the illusion of eternal youth; a custom that leads precisely to the practice of discarding or marginalizing those who are not efficient, who are seen as a burden, a disturbance or simply ugly.
In addition, drawing close - as I recalled in my recent Encyclical Laudato Si' - also involves the mandatory practice of taking responsibility for creation and our common home which belongs to everyone and is confided to the care of all people, even to generations yet to come.
The Church's preoccupation is in fact, the preoccupation of the entire human family and of all of creation. It is a matter of teaching everyone to care for and to administer the goods of creation as a whole, as a gift entrusted to the responsibility of every generation so that it can be passed on, all the more integrated and humanly viable for generations to come. This conversion of heart to the gospel of creation means that we must do our part and become interpreters of the cries for human dignity, which come above all from the poor and those who are marginalized, as often is the case of the sick and the suffering. During the approaching Jubilee of Mercy, may this cry find a true echo in our hearts, in order that also in the exercise of the works of mercy, both corporal and spiritual, according to the diverse responsibilities entrusted to each, we may welcome the gift of God's grace, while we ourselves become channels and witnesses of mercy.
I hope that during these days of study and debate, while you also consider the environmental factors and aspects more closely tied to the physical, psychological, spiritual and social health of people, you may contribute to a new development of the culture of salus, understood in an integral sense. I encourage you, in this perspective, to keep always present in your work, the reality of the people who are suffering most due to the damage caused by environmental degradation, which often have severe and permanent consequences for human health. Speaking of damage that is caused due to environmental degradation, for me, it is surprising to find - when I go to the Wednesday audience and I see in parishes - so many sick, especially children ... Their parents tell me: He has a rare illness! They don't know what it is. These rare diseases are the consequence of illness that we have imposed upon the environment, and this is a serious thing!
Let us ask Blessed Mary, Health of the Sick, to accompany the work of your Conference. Let us confide to her the cares that, every day, various professionals in the world of health care develop in order to help those who are suffering. I willingly bless you all, your families, your communities, and also those who we meet in hospitals and nursing homes. I am praying for you; and you too, please pray for me. Thank you.
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