Vatican
City, 23 November 2013 (VIS) – Elderly persons have always been
active in the life of the Church, which must set an example to
society of how they are always important, indeed “indispensable”
said Pope Francis, who this morning received in audience the
participants in the 28th International Conference of the Pontifical
Council for Health Care Workers (Health Care Pastoral). The meeting
took place from 21 to 23 November in the New Synod Hall and examined
the theme “The Church at the service of sick elderly people: care
for people with neurodegenerative pathologies”.
The
elderly “carry with them the memory and the wisdom of life, which
they transmit to others, and participate fully in the Church's
mission. Let us remember that human life always maintains its value
in the eyes of God, far beyond any discriminatory view”, emphasised
Pope Francis. He went on to mention how the increase in life
expectancy throughout the twentieth century has also led a growing
number of people to be affected by neurodegenerative pathologies,
which are frequently accompanied by a deterioration in cognitive
capacities. These pathologies have an impact on social and health
care both in terms of research and in assistance in social and
healthcare structures, as well as within the family, which is in need
of help and adequate services to care for the elderly.
The
Holy Father reiterated the importance of a form of healthcare which
“alongside the traditional biomedical model, is enriched by
allowing space for dignity and freedom, far from the reclusion and
silence that too often surrounds those in the healthcare environment”
and, from this perspective, he spoke also of the importance of the
religious and spiritual aspect, insisting on the need “to put into
practice a particular pastoral approach to accompany the religious
life of elderly people with serious degenerative pathologies, with
different forms and content, so as not to interrupt the dialogue and
relationship of their minds and hearts with God”.
“Dear
friends”, he concluded, addressing the elderly present, “you are
not only the recipients of the evangelical message, but also, by
virtue of your Baptism, its proclaimers in the fullest sense”.
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