EVALUATE MEDICAL DECISIONS USING ETHICAL CRITERIA

VATICAN CITY, NOV 17, 2000 (VIS) - Today in the Vatican's Synod Hall, John Paul II received in audience participants in the 15th international conference promoted by the Pontifical Council for Pastoral Assistance to Health Care Workers, which is considering the theme: "Health and Society."

The Pope spoke of the importance of "recovering certain criteria of ethical and anthropological discernment that enable us to evaluate whether the choices made in medicine and health care are truly tailored to man, whom they must serve."

"Medicine which seeks principally to enrich its knowledge with a view to its own technological efficiency," he continued, "would betray its original ethos and open the door to harmful developments. Only by serving man's integral well-being, can medicine contribute to his progress and happiness and not become an instrument of manipulation and death."

The Holy Father referred to the necessity of recognizing ethical norms "at whose center lies the human being with his individual dignity. Respect for his right to be born, live and die with dignity constitutes the basic imperative from which the practice of medicine must draw its inspiration. Do all in your power to raise awareness in the community, in national health care systems and in those in charge of them, in order that the considerable resources earmarked for research and technology always have the integral service of life as their objective."

Tending the sick, he highlighted, means "approaching the suffering person and not simply attending a sick body. This is why health care workers are asked to make a commitment that has the nature of a vocation. ... Giving the sick and their families reasons for hope in the face of the pressing questions that assail them, that is your mission. The Church is near you and shares with you this passionate service to life."

The Pope mentioned that during the conference, reflection had been given to health conditions in certain regions of the world, "where there is a lack of policies supporting primary care itself." He concluded by making a fresh call to the leaders of nations "that, as much as possible, they may favor the conditions appropriate for a resolution of such dramatic situations of injustice and marginalization."

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OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, NOV 17, 2000 (VIS) - The Holy Father:

- Accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the diocese of New Ulm, U.S.A., presented by Bishop Raymond A. Lucker in accordance with Canon 401, para. 2 of the Code of Canon Law.

- Accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the archdiocese of Valencia, Spain, presented by Auxiliary Bishop Rafael Sanus Abad, in accordance with Canons 411 and 402, para. 2 of the Code of Canon Law.

- Appointed Fr. Esteban Escudero Torres, director of the institute of religious sciences in Valencia (area 13,060, population 2,415,000, Catholics 2,294,000, priests 1,516, religious 4,458), Spain, as auxiliary of the same archdiocese. The bishop-elect was born in Valencia in 1946 and ordained a priest in 1975.

- Appointed Msgr. Ivan Devcic, president of the theological institute of Rijeka-Senj (area 10,975, population 390,000, Catholics 290,000, priests 154, religious 277), Croatia, as archbishop of the same archdiocese. The archbishop-elect was born in Kranso Polje in 1948 and ordained a priest in 1975.

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AUDIENCES

VATICAN CITY, NOV 17, 2000 (VIS) - The Holy Father today received in audience Cardinal Frederic Etsou-Nzabi-Bamungwabi C.I.C.M., archbishop of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo.

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SYNOD OF BISHOPS' COUNCIL FOR ASIA HOLDS FOURTH MEETING

VATICAN CITY, NOV 17, 2000 (VIS) - The Council of the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops for the Special Assembly for Asia held its fourth meeting in the Vatican from November 14 to 16, according to a communique released today by the Synod of Bishops.

The synod's secretary general, Cardinal Jan P. Schotte, C.I.C.M., presided at the sessions whose participants included three cardinals, two archbishops, four bishops and four staff members of the General Secretariat. Among those in attendance was Archbishop Thomas Menamparampil, S.D.B. of Guwahati, India, who succeeded the late Archbishop Alan Basil De Lastic of Delhi, India.

Following Cardinal Schotte's remarks at the opening session, there was a debate, in both a plenary session and in language groups, on the application of the Post-synodal Apostolic Exhortation "Ecclesia in Asia." The communique states that "the debate gave rise to an overall informative picture, which shows how the document has received broad consensus on the Asian continent, given its completeness and how it responds to the culture, sensitivity and ecclesial hopes of the Church in Asia."

The council scheduled its next meeting for November 20-22, 2001.

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