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Skriven 2006-02-15 22:22:26 av Marc Lewis (1:396/45)
Ärende: Vatican Information Service (Press Release)
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                The following press release is Copyrighted by the
                          Vatican Information Service.
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                               VIS-Press releases

EXPERIENCE ILLNESS IN KEEPING WITH HUMAN DIGNITY

VATICAN CITY, FEB 11, 2006 (VIS) - In the Vatican Basilica at 4.30 p.m. today,
Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes and the 14th World Day of the Sick, Cardinal
Camillo Ruini, vicar general for the diocese of Rome, celebrated Mass for the
sick and for pilgrims of UNITALSI (Italian National Union for Transport of the
Sick to Lourdes and International Shrines), and of Opera Romana Pellegrinaggi.

Following Mass, Benedict XVI arrived in the basilica to bless the sick and
address some words to those present.

The Pope recalled how "in the grotto of Massabielle, the Virgin showed the
tenderness of God towards those who suffer. ... Appearing to Bernadette as the
Immaculate Conception, Mary Most Holy came to remind the modern world, which
risked forgetting, of the primacy of divine Grace which is stronger than sin
and death."

The Holy Father went on to refer to a congress held in the Australian city of
Adelaide on February 9 and 10, promoted by the Pontifical Council for Health
Care Ministry on the theme: "Mental health and human dignity."

"The human person," he said, "is a single entity the various dimensions of
which may be distinguished but not separated. The Church always aims to
consider persons in this light, and this concept characterizes both Catholic
health care institutions, and the approach of those who work in them."

Benedict XVI made a special appeal for those suffering mental illness and for
their families: "We feel close to [people in] such situations, with our prayers
and with the numerous initiatives implemented by the ecclesial community all
over the world, especially in places where legislation is lacking, where public
structures are insufficient and where natural disasters or, alas, war and armed
conflict, create grave psychological trauma in individuals."

"To all doctors, nurses and other health care workers, and all volunteers who
work in this field, I would like today symbolically to consign the Encyclical
'Deus caristas est,' with the hope that God may ever remain alive in their
hearts, so as to animate their daily work, their projects, their initiatives
and above all their relationship with the sick. Acting in the name of charity
and in the way of charity, you also offer your precious contribution to
evangelization, because the announcement of the Gospel has need of coherent
signs to confirm it. And these signs speak the language of universal love, a
language that everyone can understand."

The Pope concluded his address by calling on the Virgin Mary "to keep our hope
alive so that, faithful to Christ's teaching, we may renew our commitment to
raise up our brothers and sisters in their sickness. May the Lord ensure that
people do not remain alone and abandoned at the moment of need but, rather,
that they may experience even illness in accordance with human dignity."
AC/WORLD DAY SICK/... VIS 060213 (480)

SUMMARY

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