Vatican City, Jan 20, 2005 / 22:00 pm
Today the Holy Father reminded members of the Pontifical Council for Health Care Ministry, that the aim of the Council is to “spread the Gospel of Christian hope in the vast world of those who suffer and those called to care for them."
The Pope welcomed sixty members of the Council to the Vatican for their plenary session, and noted that 2005 marks the 20th anniversary of the founding of the council.
This period, he added, "will also be for you a stimulus to a renewed commitment in translating into action your programs for 'spreading, explaining and defending the teachings of the Church in matters of health and favoring their dissemination into health care practices', according to the Motu Proprio 'Dolentium hominum' which established the council."
The Holy Father said that, "the Church, in her pastoral action, is called to face the most delicate and inescapable questions that arise in the human soul in the face of suffering, sickness and death.”