CHILD JESUS HOSPITAL CELEBRATES 130 YEARS

VATICAN CITY, DEC 13, 1999 (VIS) - The personnel of Bambino Gesu (Child Jesus) Hospital was welcomed by the Pope this morning who recalled that the hospital, "one of the most prestigious European institutions" of pediatric medicine, is celebrating the 130th anniversary of its founding. He also recalled that the hospital was given to the Holy See 75 years ago by a Roman noble family.

"In modern society," he said, "attention for the world of the child is growing, as is the consolidation of the dutiful respect for his inalienable right to life, family, health and to religious and civil education, and the rigorous defense of his innocence. Notwithstanding this, all too often children undergo very serious affronts and violence, especially in the world's poorest regions and in those countries struck by war and hunger, They are threatened by egoism and by the race to material well-being, which so often absorbs parents, taking them away from the duty of a educative presence, which consists of a caring closeness to their children and listening to the problems linked with their growth and insertion into society."

John Paul II pointed out that "the Church continues to proclaim far and wide the centrality of the child, an object of particular love by Jesus. ... The Child Jesus Hospital plays a role in this context, undertaking precious work in favor of children who are ill."

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