THE REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH OF REFUGEES: A NOTE FOR BISHOPS

VATICAN CITY, NOV 8, 2001 (VIS) - Made public today was a communique concerning the volume "The Reproductive Health of Refugees: A Note for the Bishops' Conferences," which was published on September 14 by the Pontifical Councils for the Pastoral Care of Health, for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant Peoples and for the Family. A single volume contains the Italian, English, French and Spanish versions of the text.

In 1999 the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, in collaboration with the World Health Organization, the United Nations Populations Fund and several NGOs (Non-governmental organizations) produced a book entitled "The Inter-Agency Field Manual on Reproductive Health in Refugee Situations."

This 1999 Field Manual, says the communique, has been and "is the object of serious and numerous concerns for the Church and is at the basis of" the interdicasterial Note for Bishops' Conferences.

The volume produced by the pontifical councils is comprised of an Introduction, five chapters and a Conclusion. The chapters are: I. The Holy See, the United Nations Organization and Reproductive Health; II. The Church's Love for Refugees; III. Worrying Points in the 'Field Manual'; IV. The Pastoral Approach, and V. Specific Pastoral Problems.

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