Pope Francis: in suffering, life shines with more
splendor
(Vatican Radio) Health
professionals are the “true personification” of mercy, Pope Francis said
Thursday in his address to the Medical Associations of Spain and Latin America
in the Clementine Hall at the Vatican. And, he says, it fits with the Jubilee
of Mercy to express gratitude for those who through dedication and
professionalism help those who suffer.
The identity of the
physician, the Pope said, relies not only on skills but mainly on a
compassionate and merciful attitude towards those who suffer in body and
spirit. Compassion is the very soul of medicine and compassion is not pity, it
is suffering-with.
He continued: Compassion is
not always well received in our individualistic and highly technological
culture because sometimes it is seen as a humiliation. There are even some who
hide behind alleged compassion to justify killing a patient. True compassion,
says Pope Francis, does not marginalize, humiliate or exclude and doesn’t
celebrate the passing away of a patient. No, this is the triumph of
selfishness, of the “culture of disposability” that rejects people who do not
meet certain standards of health, beauty or utility.
“Health is one of the most
precious gifts and everyone desires it,” Pope Francis said. “The biblical
tradition has always highlighted the closeness between salvation and health, as
well as their mutual and numerous implications. I like to remember that title
with which the Church Fathers employed in reference to Christ and his work of
salvation: Christus Medicus. He is the Good Shepherd who cares for
the wounded sheep and comforts the sick (cf. Ez 34,16); he is the Good
Samaritan who does not pass before the badly injured person by the wayside but,
moved by compassion, he heals and serves (cf. Lk 10.33 to 34). Christian
medical tradition has always been inspired by the parable of the Good
Samaritan. It is identified with the love of the Son of God, who ‘went about
doing good and healing all those who were oppressed’ (Acts 10:38). How much
good the practice of medicine does in thinking of the sick person as our
neighbor, as our flesh and blood, and the mystery of the flesh of Christ
himself reflected in his wounded body! ‘Every time you did it to one of these,
my brethren, you did it to me’ (Mt 25:40).
Compassion, the Pope
continued, is the appropriate response to the immense value of the sick person,
a response made of respect, understanding and tenderness, because the sacred
value of the life of the patient does not disappear, neither is it ever
darkened, but it shines with more splendor precisely in the person’s suffering
and helplessness. This is what is understood when St. Camillo de Lellis says
with respect to treating patients: "Put more heart in those hands."
Fragility, pain and disease are a tough test for everyone, including medical
staff; they are a call to patience, to suffer-with; therefore one cannot yield
to the temptation to apply quick, merely functional and drastic solutions
driven by false compassion or by criteria of efficiency or cost savings. At
stake is the dignity of human life; at stake is the dignity of the medical vocation.
Pope Francis concluded by
assuring those present of his appreciation for their daily efforts to
accompany, nurture and enhance the immense gift of the human person. He asked
for the prayers of those present and also asked that they never cease praying
for him.
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