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Skriven 2005-11-23 05:43:28 av Marc Lewis (1:396/45)
Ärende: Vatican Information Service - Press Release
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                The following press release is Copyrighted by the
                          Vatican Information Service.
                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                               VIS-Press releases

TO THE CEI: INCREASE PASTORAL CARE OF VOCATIONS

VATICAN CITY, NOV 17, 2005 (VIS) - Benedict XVI sent a Message to the Italian
Episcopal Conference (CEI), which is meeting in Assisi, Italy, from November 14
to 18 to celebrate its 55th general assembly. During the meeting attention will
be given, among other themes, to the formation of future priests and to the
presence of the Church in the world of health care.

"The Church today," writes the Pope, "needs priests who are fully aware of the
gift of grace they receive with priestly ordination and with the mission
entrusted to them in times of swift and profound changes."

After recalling all the priests working in Italy, "who contribute to making our
parishes and communities lively and rich in grace," Benedict XVI highlights the
concern he shares with the bishops "for the drop in numbers of clergy and for
the progressive increase in the average age of priests. There is, therefore, an
urgent need to boost vocational pastoral care and to define the formative
option ever more clearly, so as to guarantee a human, intellectual and
spiritual preparation capable of meeting the new challenges that priestly
ministry is called to face. ... It is equally important that such formative
activity should be carried out in a community context, in order to reflect that
communion of life which Jesus had with His disciples, and to ensure that the
various elements of the educational program are unified around the needs of
pastoral charity."

Referring to the second principal theme of the CEI meeting, pastoral health
care ministry, the Holy Father observes in his Message that "illness certainly
poses serious and complex problems of social organization, ... yet first and
foremost it constitutes a fundamental dimension of the human experience, one
that cries out to the mission of the Church and to the conscience of believers.
Indeed, it was not by chance that the Lord accompanied His announcement of
salvation with much healing of suffering people; and the Christian community in
all times has made the care of the sick an emblem of Christian charity.

"The witness given us by my beloved predecessor John Paul II remains engraved
in our hearts. He made the cathedra of suffering the pinnacle of his
Magisterium. Illuminated and encouraged by such a great testimony, the Church
is called to express solidarity and care towards those facing the trial of
sickness."

In closing his Message, Benedict XVI stresses the need for Catholic
institutions that operate in the field of health care to be exemplary, "in
uniting scientific innovation and competence with primary care for the person
and for his or her dignity. ... Faced with the call ... to eliminate suffering,
even through recourse to euthanasia, the inviolable dignity of human life must
again be reaffirmed."

The Pope concludes by uniting himself to the CEI in recalling the 40th
anniversary of the end of Vatican Council II, "in anticipation of the
celebration, which I myself will preside on December 8, to commemorate the
extraordinary gift that the Church and humanity received through the Council."
MESS/CEI ASSEMBLY/ASSISI VIS 051117 (520)

SUMMARY

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