TO THE SICK: OFFER SUFFERING FOR OTHERS WHO SUFFER IN THE WORLD

VATICAN CITY, MAY 30, 1999 (VIS) - Concluding his one-day pastoral trip to Ancona, Pope John Paul visited the regional hospital where he had words of comfort for the patients, telling them that they have "a special place in my daily prayer," and asking them to offer their sufferings for others who suffer in the world, especially victims of war.

"Dear ones," he said, "if we allow ourselves to be enlightened by faith, the hospital, which is a place of suffering, can become a temple of mercy for everyone: for patients, who those who work there, for everyone who comes to visit sick people, and for the entire Christian community."

"At this time," the Holy Father observed, "how can we not think of those people who are caught up in the middle of a war and who need care? Hospitals themselves have not been spared the consequences of the conflict! And here is the most serious evil: man's hatred and violence towards his own brother, fratricidal hatred; this is the first illness of the spirit which we must fight! And the only therapy for this evil is conversion, pardon and reconciliation.

"From this hospital where you are constrained to live, bedridden, sometimes for more than just a few days, you can be close to all your brothers and sisters who are suffering in various parts of the world, where the right to life and to health is violated on a daily basis. Your condition as sick people can become a bridge of human and Christian solidarity: The Cross of Christ is a source of peace."

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