OLDER PERSONS ARE GUARDIANS OF THE COLLECTIVE MEMORY

VATICAN CITY, APR 9, 2002 (VIS) - Archbishop Javier Lozano Barragan, president of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Ministry of Health, spoke yesterday afternoon in Madrid at the United Nations Second World Assembly on Ageing.

"Older persons are the guardians of the collective memory, they have the perspective of both the past and the future," he said. "Their life must converge in intergenerational relationships, transmitting to all people the treasury of their time, their capacity and experiences." Yet, he noted, "in the present culture of global productivity, they face the danger of considering themselves as not being useful."
As the number of ageing people increases throughout the world, he said, there is also "an increasing number of abandoned older persons." Though it has insufficient resources and lacks personnel, said the archbishop, the Catholic Church "now, as before, tries to help (the elderly) even in their economic aspects. He observed that "Catholic agencies and institutions have ... 13,238 hospices for older persons in the whole world."

Archbishop Lozano said that an inclusive society based on intergenerational equality must be created, and he suggested 14 actions that would help achieve this. The Holy See suggestions included: involving older persons in decision-making at family and social levels; giving special care to older persons who suffer from mental diseases such as Alzheimer's; creating legislation and strengthening existing legal measures to eliminate abuse; protecting their dignity and life until its natural end by providing palliative care; and helping older persons maintain their self-sufficiency for as long as possible.

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