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HEALTHCARE CANNOT DIVORCE ITSELF FROM MORAL RULES

VATICAN CITY, 18 NOV 2010 (VIS) - Benedict XVI has written a Message to
Archbishop Zygmunt Zimowski, president of the Pontifical Council for Health
Pastoral Care, and to participants in the council's twenty-fifth international
conference which is currently being held on the theme: "Towards egalitarian and
human healthcare in the light of 'Caritas in veritate'".

In his Message the Pope highlights "the need to work with greater commitment at
all levels in order for the right to healthcare to be effective, facilitating
access to primary medical assistance. In our own time", he continues,
"we are
witnessing, on the one hand, a care for health which risks turning into
pharmacological, medical and surgical consumerism, almost a cult of the body
while, on the other hand, we see the difficulties millions of people face as
they seek to obtain minimal subsistence and the medicines they need to cure
themselves".

After highlighting the importance of "establishing true distributive justice
which guarantees everyone adequate care on the basis of objective needs", the
Pope insists that "the world of healthcare cannot divorce itself from moral
rules, which must govern it in order to ensure it does not become inhuman".

"Justice is promoted when we welcome the life of others and take responsibility
for them, answering their expectations because in them we see the face of the
Son of God, Who became man for us. The divine image impressed in the features
of our brothers and sisters is the basis of the exalted dignity of each
individual and arouses in each of us the duty to respect, care and serve".

The Holy Father writes that "healthcare justice must be one of the priorities
on the agendas of governments and international institutions. Unfortunately,
along with positive and encouraging results, opinions and schools of thought
exist which harm this justice. I am thinking of questions such as those
associated with so-called 'reproductive health', the use of artificial
procreation techniques that involve the destruction of embryos, and legalised
euthanasia. Love for justice, the defence of life from conception until natural
end, must be supported and proclaimed, even if this means going against the
tide. Fundamental ethical values are the shared heritage of universal morality
and the basis for democratic coexistence", he says.

"Only by looking at the world with the gaze of the Creator, which is a gaze of
love, will humanity learn to live on earth in peace and justice, equitably
sharing the planet and its resources for the good of each man and woman. For
this reason", the Pope concludes, "I would advocate the adoption
of a model of
development based on the centrality of the human person, on the promotion and
sharing of the common good, on responsibility, on a realisation of our need for
a changed lifestyle, and on prudence, the virtue which tells us what needs to
be done today in view of what might happen tomorrow".
MESS/VIS 20101118 (490)

SUMMARY

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