VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE   
   YEAR XXII - # 046   
   DATE 05-03-2015   
      
   Summary:   
   - To the Academy for Life: abandonment is the worst affliction for the elderly   
   - Audiences   
   - Other Pontifical Acts   
      
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    To the Academy for Life: abandonment is the worst affliction for the elderly   
    Vatican City, 5 March 2015 (VIS) - "Palliative care expresses the typically   
   human attitude of caring for each other, especially for those who suffer. It   
   is the demonstration that the human person always remains precious, even when   
   elderly or afflicted by illness. Indeed, the person is in any circumstance   
   valuable to himself and to others, and loved by God. Therefore, when life   
   becomes very fragile and the end of earthly life comes close, we feel the   
   responsibility to look after and accompany the person in the best way   
   possible", said the Pope this morning, as he received in audience the members   
   of the Pontifical Academy for Life, on the occasion of their general assembly   
   on the theme "Assisting the elderly and palliative care".   
    "The biblical commandment to honour our parents reminds us in a broader sense   
   of our duty to honour all elderly people. God links a dual promise to this   
   commandment: 'so that your life will be long on the fertile land that the Lord   
   your God is giving you'. Obedience to this commandment ensures not only the   
   gift of the land, but above all the possibility of making use of it. ... The   
   precept reveals to us the fundamental pedagogic relationship between parents   
   and children, between the elderly and the young, with reference to the   
   stewardship and transmission of religious teaching and wisdom to future   
   generations. Honour this teaching, and those who transmit it are a source of   
   life and blessing. On the contrary, the Bible severely admonishes those who   
   neglect or mistreat their parents".   
    "The Word of God is always living and we can see clearly how the commandment   
   proves to be relevant to contemporary society, in which the logic of utility   
   often takes precedence over that of solidarity and gratuitousness, even within   
   families", he continued. "'To honour' may be translated as the duty to have   
   extreme respect and take care of those who, on account of their physical or   
   social condition, could be left - or made - to die. Medicine has a special   
   role within society as testimony to the honour due to an elderly person and to   
   every human being. Evidence and efficiency cannot be the only criteria   
   governing the work of doctors, and nor can the rules of healthcare systems and   
   economic profit. A State cannot expect to profit from medicine".   
    The Bishop of Rome remarked that the Assembly of the Academy for Life has   
   studied new sectors for the application of palliative care which until now   
   have been of valuable assistance to cancer patients. However, it may now be   
   applied to a wide range of illnesses, often linked to old age and   
   characterised by chronic and progressive degeneration. "The elderly need,   
   first and foremost, the care of their families - whose affection cannot be   
   substituted even by the most efficient structures or by the most competent and   
   charitable healthcare workers", he emphasised. Palliative care is "an   
   important help for the elderly who, for reasons of seniority, receive less   
   attention in terms of curative medicine and are often neglected. Abandonment   
   is the most serious 'malady' to afflict the elderly, and also the greatest   
   injustice they can suffer; those who have helped us to grow should not be   
   abandoned when they need our help, our love, our tenderness".   
    Francis concluded his address by encouraging healthcare professionals and   
   medical students to specialise in this type of care, "which does not have less   
   value on account of the fact that it is not 'lifesaving'. Palliative care   
   involves something equally important: it accentuates the value of the person.   
   Therefore, I urge all those who, in various ways, work in this sector to carry   
   out their task in the spirit of service and recalling that all medical   
   knowledge is truly science, in its most noble sense, only if it may assist the   
   good of mankind, which can never be achieved by opposing life and dignity".   
      
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    Audiences   
    Vatican City, 5 March 2015 (VIS) - Today the Holy Father received in audience:   
    - Archbishop Thomas Yeh Sheng-nan, apostolic nuncio in Algeria and Tunisia;   
    - Archbishop Eugene Martin Nugent, apostolic nuncio in Haiti;   
    - Archbishop Marek Solczynski, apostolic nuncio in Georgia, Armenia and   
   Azerbaijan;   
    - Cardinal Beniamino Stella, prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy.   
      
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    Other Pontifical Acts   
    Vatican City, 5 March 2015 (VIS) - The Holy Father has appointed:   
    - Bishop Herve Giraud of Soissons, France as archbishop of Sens (area 7,427,   
   population 342,724, Catholics 208,900, priests 106, permanent deacons 21,   
   religious 180), France, and prelate of the territorial prelature of "Mission   
   de France" o Pontigny. He succeeds Bishop Yves Patenotre, whose resignation   
   from the pastoral care of the same diocese upon reaching the age limit was   
   accepted by the Holy Father.   
    - Archbishop Novatus Rugambwa as apostolic nuncio in Honduras. The archbishop   
   is currently apostolic nuncio in Angola, Santo Tome and Principe.   
      
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