WORLD DAY OF THE SICK: CHRIST, HOPE FOR AFRICA

VATICAN CITY, SEP 29, 2004 (VIS) - Made public today was the Pope's Message  for the World Day of the Sick which will take place on February 11, 2005 and whose theme is, "Christ, hope for Africa."  The main celebration will take place at the Shrine of Our Lady, Queen of Apostles in Yaounde, Cameroon.

  In the message, dated September 8, the Pope says that the conflicts and wars in many parts of Africa "make intervention to prevent and cure the diseases that devastate the continent very difficult."

  "I encourage those who are able to dedicate themselves to stopping these tragedies. I remind those responsible for selling arms of what I have written: 'Those who perpetuate the wars in Africa through arms trafficking are accomplices to hateful crimes against humanity'."

  Referring to the specific problem of AIDS, John Paul II recalls that "in order to fight  it in a responsible way, prevention must be increased through education on life issues and the proper view of sexuality." In this way, he emphasizes, sexually-transmitted infections can be avoided "especially through responsible behavior and the observance of the virtue of chastity."

  The Pope focuses on the duty of the government and civil authorities to provide accurate information about AIDS and to invest in the education of young people and health care. After praising the "pharmaceutical industries that are committed to keeping the cost of drugs low," the Holy Father recalls "with admiration the numerous health care workers, religious helpers and volunteers, who, like good Samaritans, spend their lives caring for AIDS victims and their families."

  "The celebration of the World Day of the Sick," he writes, "offers us all the possibility to understand better the importance of pastoral health care. … It is precisely in the moment of illness that one urgently needs to find appropriate answers to the deepest questions regarding man's life: questions on the meaning of pain, suffering and death, considered not only as a mystery which must be confronted with strength but as a mystery in which Christ incorporates our life to Him."
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