Vatican City (AsiaNews) - "The measure of humanity is essentially determined in its relationship to suffering and the sufferer. This applies to the individual and society '. This is the warning that Benedict XVI launched today, the 18th World Day for  the Sick, which is also the 25th anniversary of the founding of the Pontifical Council for pastoral healthcare.  The Pope referred to both to emphasize the duty of the Church and society, to have the utmost care to those who are sick.

Preceded by the arrival in St. Peter’s basilica of the relics of Saint Bernadette Soubirous, the mass celebrated for the occasion was therefore an occasion for reflection on the Christian understanding of illness, starting of course from the example of Jesus who proclaimed the Gospel and healed the sick. "The Church, which is entrusted with the task of extending in space and time, the mission of Christ, can not ignore these two essential works: evangelization and care of the sick in body and spirit. In fact, God wants to heal the whole person and in the Gospel the healing of the body is a sign of  a deeper recovery that is the remission of sins (cf. Mark 2:1-12). "

Greeting sick pilgrims and volunteers via live link between the basilica and Marian Sanctuaries, primarily Lourdes, Benedict XVI added that "in memory of the apparitions in Lourdes, a place chosen by Mary to show her motherly care for the infirm, the liturgy appropriately echoes the Magnificat, the canticle of the Virgin which extols the wonders of God in history of salvation: the humble and the poor, like all those who fear God, experienced her mercy, reversing their earthly fortunes and thus proving the sanctity of the Creator and Redeemer. The Magnificat is not a canticle for those on whom fortune smiles, who have always 'plain sailing', it is rather the gratitude of one who knows the dramas of life, but is confident of God's redemptive work, it is a song that expresses the faith of generations of tried men and women who have placed their hope in God and have committed themselves personally, like Mary, to be of help to others in need. "

 "The Church, like Mary, holds within it the drama of man and the consolation of God, it holds them together, along the pilgrimage of history. Through the centuries, the church has shown the signs of God’s love, who continues to make great things in humble and simple people". In the Church, he continued, the patient has "an active role in 'causing', so to speak, the prayer of faith. 'He who is sick, calls the priest'. In this Year for Priests, I like to emphasize the link between the sick and the priests, a kind of alliance, of evangelical 'complicity'. Both have a task: the patient must 'call' the priests, and they must respond, to draw on the experience of the disease, the presence and action of the Risen Lord and his Spirit. And here we see the importance of the pastoral care of the sick, the value of which is really incalculable, for the immense good it does primarily the sick and the priest himself , but also for the family, acquaintances, community and in unknown and mysterious ways for the whole Church and the world. In fact, when the Word of God speaks of healing, of salvation, of the health of the patient, it means these concepts in an integral sense, it never separates body and soul: a sick person healed by the prayer of Christ through the Church, is a joy on earth and in heaven, a foretaste of eternal life. "