Pope calls for increased investment in healthcare, especially for the poorest

Vatican City (AsiaNews) - "Increasing investment in health care facilities that help and support the suffering, especially the poor and needy." This is Benedict XVI’s invitation to "the authorities" in his message for the XIX World Day of the Sick, which as usual will be held on 11 February, but was published today.

The World Day, the Pope writes, "becomes a fitting occasion to reflect on the mystery of suffering and, above all, to make our community and civil society more responsive towards those brothers and sisters who are sick. If every man is our brother, then those who are weak, who suffer and are in need of care must be the focus of our attention, so that none of them feel forgotten or marginalized, because “the true measure of humanity is essentially determined in relationship to suffering and to the sufferer. This holds true both for the individual and for society. A society unable to accept its suffering members and incapable of helping to share their suffering and to bear it inwardly through “com-passion” is a cruel and inhuman society.'(Encyclical Letter. Spe Salvi, 38).

"I still hold in my heart - the message goes on - the moment when, during my pastoral visit to Turin, I was able to stand in reflection and prayer before the Holy Shroud, in front of that suffering face, which invites us to meditate on the One who has brought upon himself the passion of man of every age and every place, even our sufferings, our difficulties, our sins. How many faithful, throughout history, have stood before that burial cloth that wrapped the body of a crucified man, that corresponds in every way to what the Gospels tells us of the passion and death of Jesus! In contemplating it we are invited to reflect on St. Peter's words: "By his wounds you have been healed" (1 Peter 2:24). The Son of God suffered, died, but rose again, and for that, those wounds become the sign of our redemption, forgiveness and reconciliation with the Father. However, they also become a testing ground for the faith of the disciples and our faith: each time the Lord speaks of his passion and death, they do not understand, they refuse, oppose. For them, as for us, suffering is always full of mystery, difficult to accept and carry ".

"Dear sick and suffering, it is through the wounds of Christ that we can see, with eyes of hope, all the evils that afflict humanity. Rising, the Lord has not taken away suffering and evil from the world but has vanquished them at their root. He has countered the arrogance of evil with the omnipotence of his love. "

Benedict XVI addresses, finally, a thought to the young people especially those who live the experience of illness. “The Cross often frightens us because it seems to be a denial of life. In fact, the opposite is true! It is God’s “yes” to mankind, the supreme expression of his love and the source from which eternal life flows. Indeed, it is from Jesus’ heart, pierced on the Cross, that this divine life streamed forth, ever accessible to those who raise their eyes towards the Crucified One. I can only urge you, then, to embrace the Cross of Jesus, the sign of God’s love, as the source of new life. Apart from Jesus Christ risen from the dead, there can be no salvation! He alone can free the world from evil and bring about the growth of the Kingdom of justice, peace and love to which we all aspire. (cf. Message for World Youth Day 2011, 3).