To the
members of the Catholic
DEFEND THE VALUES THAT ENNOBLE MAN
“The moral comfort you
can offer those who are suffering is great, it is the result of human maturity
and a wealth of values deriving from the unchanging principles of natural and
Gospel ethics”, the Holy Father said to
the members of the Catholic Union of Italian Pharmacists at an audience on
Saturday, 29 January. The Pope also
reminded them that their work is not the end of a production line but rather a
place where physical and psychological suffering can be alleviated. Here is a translation of the Holy Father's
address, which was given in Italian.
Dear
Pharmacists,
1. I
am pleased to offer you a cordial welcome today, at the end of the National
Congress organized by the Catholic Union of Italian Pharmacists.
I am
grateful to your President, Dr. Lino Mottironi, for
the kind words with which he addressed me, also on your behalf; and I thank the
chaplain, Fr. Elia Tripaldi
of the Hospitallers, who has worked so hard for the
successful outcome of our meeting. I
also respectfully greet the representatives of the Federation of the Order, and
all those who have joined you on your visit to the Successor of Peter.
With
this gesture, your Association desires to reaffirm its fidelity to the Church's
Magisterium after strengthening its bonds of
collaboration with the Italian Episcopal Conference through the new, recently
approved Statutes. The tireless work of
Cardinal Fiorenzo Angelini,
to whom I express my gratitude, has helped your association to find fresh
motivation by linking its past experiences to the present in fidelity to the
Christian values that inspire its work.
2.
The Church is well aware that God, the Author of life, has also given man
intelligence, so that he may acquire the twofold ability to protect human
beings against disease and to administer the right treatment when they are
ill. From ancient times, the noble pharmaceutical
art, moved by an awareness of the sacredness of human life, has greatly
contributed to its protection.
Service to the integrity and well-being of the individual is the ideal
that must constantly guide the Catholic pharmacist. As he exercises his profession, he should be
inspired by the example of “Jesus of Nazareth, who went about doing good and
healing” (Acts
The
service you offer to the sacredness of life is sometimes expressed in a complex and difficult sociocultural context. I am thinking, for example, of
certain forms of disease that are spreading with frightening rapidity and are
sometimes the result of an erroneous concept of human freedom and dignity, or
worse, of the search for forms of escape that destroy man's ability to face
life responsibly.
Distribution of
medicine must be guided by moral code
In
the face of these situations, the Church's teaching has always been consistent
in defending the values that ennoble man and the meaning of suffering. Still today, echoing the teaching of the
Pontiffs Pius XII and Paul VI, she repeats that “one cannot accept being a party to attacks on life or the integrity of
the individual, on procreation or the moral and mental health of humanity”(Pius
XII, Address to Catholic Pharmacists, 2 September 1950, Discourses and Radio Messages, pp. 177-178). And “one
cannot in all conscience look for a source of profit in the sale of products
that degrade man” and his dignity
(Paul VI, Discourse to the International Pharmaceutical Federation, 7 September
1974, Insegnamenti, XII, pp. 798-801; L'Osservatore Romano English edition, 19 September 1974, p. 4). I have already had occasion to stress that
“the distribution of medication - as well as its production and use - must be
governed by a rigorous moral code
attentively observed. Respect for
this code of behaviour presupposes fidelity
to certain intangible principles which the mission of the baptized and the
duty of Christian witness make particularly timely” (Address to the
International Federation of Catholic Pharmacists, 3 November 1990, in Insegnamenti, XIII 2, p. 991, L'Osservatore Romano English edition, 12 November 1990, p. 4).
3.
Your work however is not limited to dispensing products destined for
psychological and physical well-being.
As Catholics working in the health-care sector, you are called to play
an important human, social and ethical role.
Through contact with all those who rely on your competence, you have an
opportunity to become advisers and even evangelizers, precisely because your
profession implies trust in your skill and in your humanity. The moral and psychological comfort which you
can offer those who are suffering is great, if it is the result of human maturity and a wealth of values deriving from the unchanging principles of
natural and Gospel ethics. Thus you
have an opportunity to contribute a dimension of authentic Christian solidarity
to your profession, keeping in mind the image of the Good Samaritan who does not only offer immediate aid, but accepts
the prospect of taking further care of his brother (cf. Lk
10:29-37).
4.
Dear pharmacists, the profession you exercise requires deep human, ethical and
spiritual qualities. It demands wisdom
and prudence together with a keen sense of honesty and integrity. Your
work is not the final stage of a production line where the commercial
competition of industrial plants ends.
Rather it should be a place where suffering finds a physical remedy and
understanding for wounds of the soul.
May
the Virgin Mary, invoked with the title of “Salus Infirmorum”, help you to carry out your mission diligently
and patiently as a service to life; may the example of the holy martyrs
St. Cosmas and St. Damian, whom you venerate as your
patrons, help you to be steadfast in fidelity
to Gospel principles; may my
Blessing, which I gladly extend to your co-workers and all your loved ones, go
with you.