Cardinal Turkson at the 3rd German-African Healthcare
Symposium
(Vatican Radio) The President
of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, Cardinal Peter Turkson, on
Wednesday spoke to the 3rd German-African Healthcare Symposium about the role
of the Catholic Church in healthcare in Africa.
The Symposium, taking place
in Berlin, followed the three-day World Health Summit (WHS), which concluded on
Tuesday.
The 3rd German-African
Healthcare Symposium was organized to introduce business opportunities on the
healthcare sector in addition to creating a platform for exchange, networking
and for fostering new partnerships between African and German actors.
The full text of
Cardinal Turkson’s Address is below
The German-African
Healthcare Symposium (GAHS)
Berlin, Germany, 12
October 2016
With warm greetings from the
Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace to all the participants in today’s
Symposium, I wish to thank the organizers for their kind invitation to address
this gathering today and for their concern to promote and ensure access to high
quality health care to the people of Africa.[1] Indeed, too many Africans have
been deprived of such access for too long a period of time, despite the
significant progress in the fields of technology, treatment, and prevention
that has become commonplace in many high- and middle-income parts of the world.
You are probably already well
aware of the significant engagement in health care and in the formation of
health professionals by the Catholic Church, at national and local levels, in
Africa. The 2014 Statistical Directory of Catholic Church-inspired Programs
indicate that our Church maintains 1,298 hospitals; 5,256 dispensaries; 29
leprosy centres; and 632 homes for the elderly, chronically ill, and disabled.
Pope Francis has pointed out, on numerous occasions, that the Catholic health
care ministry does not limit its attention only to Catholics but rather, “on
the basis of this ‘loving attentiveness’, the Church cooperates with all
institutions concerned for the good of individuals and communities.”[2]
These and other faith-based
organizations often assume significant responsibility for the burden of health
care delivery, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, and most especially among
the poorest sectors of the population and in rural areas. Too often, however,
these same service providers are not allowed a “place at the table” during the
formulation of health care plans on the national or local levels. They are also
denied an equitable share in the resources – both from the national or local
budgets and from international donors. Such funding is essential to facilitate
the maintenance of ongoing health systems; the training, recruitment, and
retention of professional staff; as well as the scaling up necessary to address
the ever-increasing burden of global pandemics such as HIV, tuberculosis,
malaria, and other infections, of anti-microbial resistance, and of
non-communicable diseases that disproportionately affect the poorest sectors of
society.
I will situate my comments
today within the context of the Catholic Church’s teaching and tradition of
service and ministry to all persons in need, but with particular regard to the
most needy and most marginalized and without any limitation based on religious,
ethnic, national, or socio-economic status. I propose that Pope Francis’
Encyclical, Laudato Si’, could serve as a very significant resource for our
reflection and dialogue on the theme of this conference. Many people
incorrectly assume that this letter dealt only with climate change and the
environment. As crucial as those issues are in today’s world, Pope Francis did
not restrict his teaching to these themes alone. In fact, his principal
objective was to propose a social teaching of the Church that creates awareness
about the immensity and urgency of the challenge of the present situation of
the world and its poor, the two fragilities which lie at the heart of Pope
Francis’ integral ecology. He issued an urgent appeal for a new dialogue about
how to shape the future of our planet, and he encouraged a response of the
entire human family with profound faith and trust in humanity’s ability to work
together to build a common home.
The Pope does not mince words
in his teaching. He insists that, now more than ever, the world needs
leadership in all its fields of endeavour, and the various fields need to work
together in pursuit of the common good of humanity. Pope Francis speaks to
everyone; everyone must play a role. He exhorts those in high station in
politics, business and science, and he encourages those who live and work in
very humble circumstances—all must commit to meeting the needs of all who live
on this planet and of the planet itself. We are all in this together, each of
us responsible for the other.
The major focus of this Third
German-African Healthcare Symposium is the urgent need for investing in much
stronger health systems and on the special role of new multi- and
cross-sectoral strategies and approaches. In this connection, let us keep in
mind the powerful messages delivered by Pope Francis. During his visit to
Bolivia, in July 2015, he said: “Working for a just distribution of the fruits
of the earth and human labour is not mere philanthropy. It is a moral
obligation. For Christians, the responsibility is even greater: it is a
commandment. It is about giving to the poor and to peoples what is theirs by right.
The universal destination of goods is not a figure of speech found in the
Church’s Social Teaching. It is a reality prior to private property. Property,
especially when it affects natural resources, must always serve the needs of
peoples.”[3]
Pope Francis urges us to
think of our relationship with the world and with all people. Caring for our
common home, and for all people who live on this earth, requires not just an
economic and technological revolution, but also a cultural and spiritual
revolution—a profoundly different way of living the relationship between people
and the environment, a new way of ordering the global economy. He insists on
the urgency of changing our sense of progress, our management of the economy,
and our style of life.
He forcefully maintains that
dialogue is “the only way to confront the problems of our world and to seek
solutions that are truly effective". Authentic dialogue is honest and
transparent. It does not permit the particular interests of individual
countries or specific interest groups to dominate discussions. The Holy Father
offered this ideal in his remarks in Nairobi last November: "What is
needed is sincere and open dialogue, with responsible cooperation on the part
of all: political authorities, the scientific community, the business world and
civil society. Positive examples are not lacking; they demonstrate that a
genuine cooperation between politics, science and business can achieve
significant results."[4]
Catholic Social Teaching
contains important principles for true dialogue. How can we promote and sustain
positive dialogue that results in positive actions? Three helpful principles
for such dialogue are solidarity, subsidiarity, and the common good. Solidarity
means we care about the concerns of others as much as our own. Subsidiarity
means we accept others as equals; they speak for themselves, we listen; and we
help them to participate if they need such help. As for the “what” of dialogue,
Catholic Social Teaching tells us to always focus on the common good and to
show special concern for the poor and for the earth.
During the discussions today,
I sincerely hope that it will be possible to identify and to develop
action-oriented strategies to overcome the public health challenges that still
plague our global human family. Let us confront them honestly and
transparently, and try to search for more effective and efficient solutions.
Despite the tremendous progress that has been made, we still find tragic health
deficits in low- and some middle-income countries, particularly in sub-Saharan
Africa, and even among the poor and marginalized populations in high-income
countries. We find significantly higher rates of maternal and under-5
mortality, lack of strong health infrastructures, higher prevalence of
infectious as well as non-communicable diseases, and lack of access to even
basic but life-saving medicines that are taken for granted by the “privileged
few” in the global human family. We must all be part of the solution to
accessible, affordable care for these vulnerable brothers and sisters. In this
regard, let us be inspired and motivated by this imperative offered by Pope
Francis: “There is no human life that is more sacred than another, as there is
no human life that is qualitatively more significant than another.”[5]
Cardinal Peter K.A. Turkson
President
[1] With gratitude to Mons.
Robert Vitillo, Attaché for Health, Permanent Mission of the Holy See to the UN
in Geneva, for advice and help in drafting this address, and to Mr. Robert
Czerny, Ottawa, for final editing.
[2] Address to the Members of
the Diplomatic Corps Accredited to the Holy See, Vatican City, 13 January 2014.
[3] Address to the Second
World Meeting of Popular Movements, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia, 9.7.2015,
§ 3.1
[4] Address at the United
Nations Office in Nairobi, 26 November 2015.
[5] Address to the
Participants in the Meeting Organized by the International Federation of
Catholic Medical Associations, Clementine Hall, 20 September 2013
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