Millions still suffer from leprosy. Here's Pope Francis' message about it
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Pope Francis prays in front of a crucifix during his general audience on Oct. 26, 2022. / Vatican MediaWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Jan 24, 2023 / 14:00 pm (CNA).Pope Francis is calling on Catholics and people worldwide to remember those suffering from leprosy, or Hansen's disease, ahead of World Leprosy Day."We cannot forget these brothers and sisters of ours," the 86-year-old pontiff said in a message to the Second Symposium on Hansen's disease held Jan. 23-24 in Rome. "We must not ignore this disease, which unfortunately still afflicts many people, especially in the most disadvantaged social contexts."While the disease is easily curable and rare in countries such as the United States, people from around the world still suffer from it. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), an estimated 2-3 million people are living with Hansen's disease-related disabilities worldwide.World Leprosy Day, which is held annually on the last Sunday of January, began in 1...
Pope Francis prays in front of a crucifix during his general audience on Oct. 26, 2022. / Vatican Media
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jan 24, 2023 / 14:00 pm (CNA).
Pope Francis is calling on Catholics and people worldwide to remember those suffering from leprosy, or Hansen's disease, ahead of World Leprosy Day.
"We cannot forget these brothers and sisters of ours," the 86-year-old pontiff said in a message to the Second Symposium on Hansen's disease held Jan. 23-24 in Rome. "We must not ignore this disease, which unfortunately still afflicts many people, especially in the most disadvantaged social contexts."
While the disease is easily curable and rare in countries such as the United States, people from around the world still suffer from it. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), an estimated 2-3 million people are living with Hansen's disease-related disabilities worldwide.
World Leprosy Day, which is held annually on the last Sunday of January, began in 1954 in an attempt to raise awareness of the disease.
"What should concern us, today more than then, is that not only the disease can be forgotten, but also the people," Pope Francis urged in his message.
He added: "On the contrary, convinced of the human family's vocation to fraternity, let us allow ourselves to be challenged and to be asked: 'Will we bend down to touch and heal the wounds of others? Will we bend down and help another to get up?'"
The pope encouraged symposium participants to see World Leprosy Day as an opportunity to "revise our models of development," "denounce and try to correct the discrimination they cause," and "renew our commitment to building an inclusive society."
Those who suffer from leprosy, he stressed, are human persons of inherent dignity and worth.
"Specifically, we must ask ourselves how best to collaborate with people affected by leprosy, treating them fully as people, recognizing them as the key protagonists in their struggle to participate in fundamental human rights and to live as fully-fledged members of the community," he invited.
Pope Francis concluded by expressing his closeness to those who suffer from Hansen's disease and encouraging participants to ensure that those struggling with the disease have both spiritual support and health care.
He asked for the intercession of Mary Most Holy as well as the "many saints who served Christ in people affected by leprosy" for the symposium participants.
"May everyone experience that Jesus came so that every man and woman might have life, and have it in abundance," he said.
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Pope Francis speaks to journalists on Feb. 5, 2023, during his flight back to Rome after his visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan. / Vatican MediaRome, Italy, Feb 5, 2023 / 11:35 am (CNA).Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI's death was used by people in a self-serving way, Pope Francis said aboard the papal plane returning from South Sudan on Sunday."I think Benedict's death was instrumentalized by people who want to serve their own interests," he said during an in-flight press conference Feb. 5.People who instrumentalize such a good and holy person, Francis added, are partisans and unethical.There is a widespread tendency to make political parties out of theological positions, he said. "I leave it alone. These things will fall on their own, or if they don't fall they will move on as has happened so many times in the history of the Church."Pope Francis' comments were made aboard the papal plane from Juba, South Sudan, to Rome, at the end of a six-day trip that also ...
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Pope Francis speaks to the media on Feb. 5, 2023, during his return flight to Rome from his visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan. / Vatican MediaRome Newsroom, Feb 5, 2023 / 12:00 pm (CNA).On his return flight from South Sudan on Sunday, Pope Francis said that God loves and accompanies people with same-sex attraction. When asked by a journalist what the pope would say to families in Congo and South Sudan who reject their children because they are gay, Pope Francis responded that the catechism teaches that people with same-sex attraction should not be marginalized. "People with homosexual tendencies are children of God. God loves them. God accompanies them," the pope said during an in-flight press conference on his return from Juba on Feb. 5."To condemn someone like this is a sin. Criminalizing people with homosexual tendencies is an injustice," he added.In a first for a papal trip, Pope Francis was joined for the in-flight press conference by two ...
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The documentary "Lourdes," showing in theaters on Feb. 8 and 9, follows the experiences of sick and disabled pilgrims who often seek consolation rather than cures. / Bosco FilmsWashington D.C., Feb 5, 2023 / 05:00 am (CNA).The French documentary film "Lourdes" will be shown in 700 theaters in the U.S., for a special two-day screening, on Feb. 8 (in French with English subtitles) and Feb. 9 (in Spanish with English subtitles).The film presents a unique and affecting view of the Catholic pilgrimage site as seen through the eyes of several of the sick pilgrims and their caregivers. A surprise hit in France among critics and audiences, the award-winning documentary follows several sick and disabled pilgrims who travel to Lourdes in search of consolation, if not miracles, at the Marian shrine in the French Pyrenees. It was there on Feb. 11, 1858, that 14-year-old Bernadette Soubirous witnessed the first of 18 apparitions of the Virgin Mary. The filmmakers received unpreced...