SUMMARY:
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To the Academy for Life: abandonment is the worst affliction for the
elderly
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Audiences
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Other Pontifical Acts
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To
the Academy for Life: abandonment is the worst affliction for the
elderly
Vatican
City, 5 March 2015 (VIS) - “Palliative care expresses the typically
human attitude of caring for each other, especially for those who
suffer. It is the demonstration that the human person always remains
precious, even when elderly or afflicted by illness. Indeed, the
person is in any circumstance valuable to himself and to others, and
loved by God. Therefore, when life becomes very fragile and the end
of earthly life comes close, we feel the responsibility to look after
and accompany the person in the best way possible”, said the Pope
this morning, as he received in audience the members of the
Pontifical Academy for Life, on the occasion of their general
assembly on the theme “Assisting the elderly and palliative care”.
“The
biblical commandment to honour our parents reminds us in a broader
sense of our duty to honour all elderly people. God links a dual
promise to this commandment: 'so that your life will be long on the
fertile land that the Lord your God is giving you'. Obedience to this
commandment ensures not only the gift of the land, but above all the
possibility of making use of it. … The precept reveals to us the
fundamental pedagogic relationship between parents and children,
between the elderly and the young, with reference to the stewardship
and transmission of religious teaching and wisdom to future
generations. Honour this teaching, and those who transmit it are a
source of life and blessing. On the contrary, the Bible severely
admonishes those who neglect or mistreat their parents”.
“The
Word of God is always living and we can see clearly how the
commandment proves to be relevant to contemporary society, in which
the logic of utility often takes precedence over that of solidarity
and gratuitousness, even within families”, he continued. “'To
honour' may be translated as the duty to have extreme respect and
take care of those who, on account of their physical or social
condition, could be left – or made – to die. Medicine has a
special role within society as testimony to the honour due to an
elderly person and to every human being. Evidence and efficiency
cannot be the only criteria governing the work of doctors, and nor
can the rules of healthcare systems and economic profit. A State
cannot expect to profit from medicine”.
The
Bishop of Rome remarked that the Assembly of the Academy for Life has
studied new sectors for the application of palliative care which
until now have been of valuable assistance to cancer patients.
However, it may now be applied to a wide range of illnesses, often
linked to old age and characterised by chronic and progressive
degeneration. “The elderly need, first and foremost, the care of
their families – whose affection cannot be substituted even by the
most efficient structures or by the most competent and charitable
healthcare workers”, he emphasised. Palliative care is “an
important help for the elderly who, for reasons of seniority, receive
less attention in terms of curative medicine and are often neglected.
Abandonment is the most serious 'malady' to afflict the elderly, and
also the greatest injustice they can suffer; those who have helped us
to grow should not be abandoned when they need our help, our love,
our tenderness”.
Francis
concluded his address by encouraging healthcare professionals and
medical students to specialise in this type of care, “which does
not have less value on account of the fact that it is not
'lifesaving'. Palliative care involves something equally important:
it accentuates the value of the person. Therefore, I urge all those
who, in various ways, work in this sector to carry out their task in
the spirit of service and recalling that all medical knowledge is
truly science, in its most noble sense, only if it may assist the
good of mankind, which can never be achieved by opposing life and
dignity”.
Audiences
Vatican
City, 5 March 2015 (VIS) – Today the Holy Father received in
audience:
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Archbishop Thomas Yeh Sheng-nan, apostolic nuncio in Algeria and
Tunisia;
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Archbishop Eugene Martin Nugent, apostolic nuncio in Haiti;
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Archbishop Marek Solczynski, apostolic nuncio in Georgia, Armenia and
Azerbaijan;
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Cardinal Beniamino Stella, prefect of the Congregation for the
Clergy.
Other
Pontifical Acts
Vatican
City, 5 March 2015 (VIS) – The Holy Father has appointed:
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Bishop Herve Giraud of Soissons, France as archbishop of Sens (area
7,427, population 342,724, Catholics 208,900, priests 106, permanent
deacons 21, religious 180), France, and prelate of the territorial
prelature of “Mission de France” o Pontigny. He succeeds Bishop
Yves Patenotre, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same
diocese upon reaching the age limit was accepted by the Holy Father.
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Archbishop Novatus Rugambwa as apostolic nuncio in Honduras. The
archbishop is currently apostolic nuncio in Angola, Santo Tome and
Principe.
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