Bulletin for 11/13/2016
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has sent a Message to the participants in the thirty-first international conference of the Pontifical Council for Health Care Workers. The theme of this year’s iteration of the annual conference is: Towards a Culture of Health that is Welcoming and Supportive: at the Service of People with Rare and Neglected Pathologies .
In his Message to participants, Pope Francis highlights three “cornerstones” of good care in a Catholic context: the primacy of the human person along with an integrated, integral awareness of the place of human being within the economy of creation and the duty to stewardship of the created order; the missionary and “outward-moving” character of the Church’s commitment to caring for the sick; the question of justice involved in assuring the necessary care to people suffering disease – especially rare disease – and without means to care for themselves or get the care they need.
“On these three cornerstones, which I believe can be shared by anybody who holds dear the eminent value of the human being,” writes Pope Francis, “one can identify realistic, courageous, generous and supportive solutions to addressing even more effectively, and to solving, the health-care emergency of ‘rare’ and ‘neglected’ diseases.”
The Holy Father goes on to write, “In the name of this love for man, for every man, above all for suffering man, I express to all of you, participants in the thirty-first international conference of the Pontifical Council for Health Care Workers, the wish that you will have a renewed impetus and generous dedication towards sick people, as well as a tireless drive towards the greatest common good in the health-care field.”
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis held the last special Saturday audience for the Jubilee Year of Mercy this week, during which he stressed the need for inclusion, especially towards the poor, the weary, and the burdened.
By showing mercy, love, and forgiveness, the Holy Father said, the Church bears “faithful witness to God’s inclusive love.”
Below is the official English language synthesis of the Pope’s address, which he delivered in Italian:
Dear Brothers and Sisters: In this, the last of our special Saturday Audiences for the Holy Year of Mercy, I would like to stress the importance of inclusion . God’s mercy, which excludes no one, challenges us to be merciful and open to the needs of others, especially the poor and all those who are weary and burdened. We, who have experienced that love and mercy, have a part to play in his saving plan, which embraces all of history. In his mercy, God calls all men and women to become members of the body of Christ, which is the Church, and to work together, as one family, in building a world of justice, solidarity and peace. God reconciled mankind to himself by the sacrifice of his Son on the cross. He now sends us, his Church, to extend that merciful embrace to our brothers and sisters throughout the world. The arms of the great colonnade surrounding this Square symbolize that embrace. They remind us not only of the Church’s mission to the human family, but also of our own call to bear faithful witness to God’s inclusive love through the mercy, love and forgiveness we show to others.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Friday met a group of young men who have left the priesthood during the past years to show his closeness and affection towards them. His surprise visit to an apartment in the outskirts of Rome to meet with the group made up of five Italians, a Spaniard and a man from Latin America, came as part of his traditional gestures of Mercy on one Friday a month during this Jubilee Year.
A Vatican statement said the young men in question took the difficult decision to leave the priesthood despite opposition in many cases from their fellow priests or their families after serving for several years in parishes where loneliness, misunderstanding, fatigue arising from their many responsibilities prompted them to rethink their choice. It said the men spent months and years wrestling with uncertainty and doubts before coming to the decision they had made a mistake by becoming priests and therefore decided to leave and form a family.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Friday welcomed to Rome more than 6000 people, men and women from various European nations, who have lived, or are even now, living on the street.
The Jubilee for Socially Excluded Persons embraced not only the homeless, but also disadvantaged persons and people living in poverty.
The event was made possible with the help of “Fratello”, an association which organizes and hosts events with and for people in situations of exclusion, in partnership with associations assisting such people.
Following testimonies from two of the participants, Pope Francis addressed the crowd, thanking them for coming to Rome to meet with him and to pray for him. The Holy Father reflected on some of the ideas brought up by the two men who spoke before him.
The first was that human beings do not differ from the “great people” of the world. All men and women, the great and the small, have their own passions and dreams. “Don’t stop dreaming!” the Pope insisted. The poor, he continued, are at the heart of the Gospel; they came to Jesus precisely because they dreamed that the Lord would help and heal them.
Pope Francis then turned to another expression, “Life becomes beautiful.” This signifies dignity, he said. “The ability to encounter beauty, even in things that involve the most sadness and suffering, is something that only men and women who have dignity can have.” He emphasized the virtue of solidarity, when people – especially those whose lives are difficult – are able to have compassion for others who are suffering even more. And he thank those present for their example of solidarity, asking them to teach solidarity to the world.
Finally, Pope Francis spoke on the theme of peace, calling on everyone to continue to work in favour of peace in the world. “The greatest poverty is war!” he said. “It is the poverty that destroys… We need of peace in the world! We need peace in the Church!”
Following his address, a group of the poor and disadvantaged, who had joined Pope Francis on the stage, gathered round the Pope, placing their hands on him, and praying for him.
Listen to Christopher Wells’ report:
(from Vatican Radio)…