Vatican Report: World Day of the Sick. Today is a special day at the Vatican. It is the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes and it is also the World Day of the Sick, which was instituted by Pope John Paul II …More
Vatican Report: World Day of the Sick.
Today is a special day at the Vatican. It is the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes and it is also the World Day of the Sick, which was instituted by Pope John Paul II 28 years ago. Today on the Vatican Report, we will look at how health care ministry has become a pastoral priority at the Vatican and around the world. I am John Thavis, Catholic News Service Rome bureau chief.
And I am Cindy Wooden, CNS Rome correspondent. This morning, a procession into St. Peter’s Basilica is baring the relics of Saint Bernadette of Lourdes, the girl who 150 years ago had visions of Mary in a small village in southern France. Since then, Lourdes has become world-famous as a place of physical and spiritual healing. Pope Benedict visited there two years ago, and later this morning he will celebrate Mass here at the Vatican. In his message for this year’s World Day of the Sick, the Pope said the church should increase its efforts to bring healing wherever it is needed.
It is no secret that the Catholic Church is on the front lines of health care. It runs more than 5,000 hospitals around the world, along with 20,000 smaller medical centers, and 4,000 homes for the elderly and disabled. Many of these facilities operate in countries where Christians are a minority, and they are all open to the non-Christian population. In some remote areas of developing countries, the church’s health care facilities are practically the only medical services available.
The church-run facilities offer practical medical care, like giving immunization shots and testing for disease. It may surprise some people to learn that the Catholic health institutions care for an estimated 25 percent of AIDS patients around the world. But for the church, it is about more than the medicine. People here at the Vatican often point out that the church cannot always bring physical healing, and that care has a spiritual side. In that sense, sometimes just being with the sick is as important as prescribing drugs.
The Vatican’s involvement in health care has intensified in recent times. It was Pope John Paul II who 25 years ago instituted the Pontifical Council for Health Care Ministry. It is the youngest Vatican department, and is one of the most active. Every year it holds a major international conference on a specific medical issue, ranging from genetic-mapping to care for the elderly. And unlike most Vatican events, these conferences sometimes include speakers who may disagree with some aspects of the church’s teaching. So it is not just preaching to the choir, there is a chance for a real exchange of views.
To mark its 25th anniversary, the pontifical council this week invited international experts for a conference on understanding pain and suffering, as seen from different cultural and religious points of view, and as experienced by patients and their caregivers. This is an important issue for the Catholic Church. For one thing, alleviating suffering is often given as a justification for euthanasia, which of …
Today is a special day at the Vatican. It is the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes and it is also the World Day of the Sick, which was instituted by Pope John Paul II 28 years ago. Today on the Vatican Report, we will look at how health care ministry has become a pastoral priority at the Vatican and around the world. I am John Thavis, Catholic News Service Rome bureau chief.
And I am Cindy Wooden, CNS Rome correspondent. This morning, a procession into St. Peter’s Basilica is baring the relics of Saint Bernadette of Lourdes, the girl who 150 years ago had visions of Mary in a small village in southern France. Since then, Lourdes has become world-famous as a place of physical and spiritual healing. Pope Benedict visited there two years ago, and later this morning he will celebrate Mass here at the Vatican. In his message for this year’s World Day of the Sick, the Pope said the church should increase its efforts to bring healing wherever it is needed.
It is no secret that the Catholic Church is on the front lines of health care. It runs more than 5,000 hospitals around the world, along with 20,000 smaller medical centers, and 4,000 homes for the elderly and disabled. Many of these facilities operate in countries where Christians are a minority, and they are all open to the non-Christian population. In some remote areas of developing countries, the church’s health care facilities are practically the only medical services available.
The church-run facilities offer practical medical care, like giving immunization shots and testing for disease. It may surprise some people to learn that the Catholic health institutions care for an estimated 25 percent of AIDS patients around the world. But for the church, it is about more than the medicine. People here at the Vatican often point out that the church cannot always bring physical healing, and that care has a spiritual side. In that sense, sometimes just being with the sick is as important as prescribing drugs.
The Vatican’s involvement in health care has intensified in recent times. It was Pope John Paul II who 25 years ago instituted the Pontifical Council for Health Care Ministry. It is the youngest Vatican department, and is one of the most active. Every year it holds a major international conference on a specific medical issue, ranging from genetic-mapping to care for the elderly. And unlike most Vatican events, these conferences sometimes include speakers who may disagree with some aspects of the church’s teaching. So it is not just preaching to the choir, there is a chance for a real exchange of views.
To mark its 25th anniversary, the pontifical council this week invited international experts for a conference on understanding pain and suffering, as seen from different cultural and religious points of view, and as experienced by patients and their caregivers. This is an important issue for the Catholic Church. For one thing, alleviating suffering is often given as a justification for euthanasia, which of …