"Palliative care should be a right, not a privilege.""Caring for the sick is not an 'optional activity' for the Church."Pope Francis always shows great closeness to people suffering from illness. So it is not surprising that he asks Catholics around the world to join him during the month of February to pray for "the terminally ill and their families."
The Holy Father shows concern for the "necessary care and accompaniment, both from a medical and human point of view" that is needed for those who are ill.
Francis points out in the video for the Global Prayer Network that there is a big difference between the concepts of "incurable and 'incurable'". Drawing on a quote from Pope St. John Paul II, he affirms that, while cure is not always given, "care is always" possible.
The Pope claims that "even when there is little chance of cure, all the sick have the right to medical accompaniment, psychological accompaniment, spiritual accompaniment and human accompaniment".
Palliative care
The Pontiff takes the opportunity to speak about palliative care. These "guarantee the patient not only medical attention, but also a human and close accompaniment".
Moreover, the Pope recalls in his message that the families of the sick "cannot be left alone in these difficult moments. For this reason, he calls for the promotion of support for those who are close to the sick that is noticeable on the physical, spiritual and social levels.
World Day of the Sick
This intention of the Pope comes precisely in the month in which the World Day of the Sick is celebrated. On February 11, on the occasion of the memory of the Virgin of LourdesThe entire Church unites to pray for those who suffer from the disease.
In its message for this day, published at the beginning of 2024, the Pope pointed out that "the first care we need in sickness is that of a closeness full of compassion and tenderness". He even took the opportunity to encourage the sick to "not be ashamed of their desire for closeness and tenderness."
The Holy Father stressed that "we Christians are especially called to make our own the compassionate gaze of Jesus". In this way, we will be able to "counteract the culture of individualism, indifference and discarding", and change it for a "culture of tenderness and compassion".
