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PDF versionPope calls for guaranteed health care for all people
Nov. 18, 2010
VATICAN CITY -- Pope Benedict XVI and other church leaders said it was the moral responsibility of nations to guarantee access to health care for all of their citizens, regardless of social and economic status or their ability to pay.
Access to adequate medical attention, the pope said in a written message Nov. 18, was one of the "inalienable rights" of man.
The pope's message was read by Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Vatican secretary of state, to participants at the 25th International Conference of the Pontifical Council for Health Care Ministry at the Vatican Nov. 18-19.
The theme of this year's meeting was "Caritas in Veritate - toward an equitable and human health care."
The pope lamented the great inequalities in health care around the globe. While people in many parts of the world aren't able to receive essential medications or even the most basic care, in industrialized countries there is a risk of "pharmacological, medical and surgical consumerism" that leads to "a cult of the body," the pope said.
"The care of man, his transcendent dignity and his inalienable rights" are issues that should concern Christians, the pope said.
Because an individual's health is a "precious asset" to society as well as to himself, governments and other agencies should seek to protect it by "dedicating the equipment, resources and energy so that the greatest number of people can have access."
"Justice in health care should be a priority of governments and international institutions," he said, cautioning that protecting human health does not include euthanasia or promoting artificial reproductive techniques that include the destruction of embryos.
Care for human life from conception to its natural end must be a guiding light in determining health care policy, the pope said.
In his own written statement, Bertone had strong words in support of the need for governments to take care of all citizens, especially children, the elderly, the poor and immigrants.
"Justice requires guaranteed universal access to health care," he said, adding that the provision of minimal levels of medical attention to all is "commonly accepted as a fundamental human right."
Governments are obligated, therefore, to adopt the proper legislative, administrative and financial measures to provide such care along with other basic conditions that promote good health, such as food security, water and housing, the cardinal said.
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Private health insurance companies, he said, should conform to human rights legislation and see to it that "privatization not become a threat to the accessibility, availability and quality of health care goods and services."
Bertone recommended that government leaders in poor countries use their limited resources wisely and for the good of their citizens.
The governments of richer nations with good health care available should practice more solidarity with their own disadvantaged citizens and help developing countries promote health care while trying to avoid a "paternalistic or humiliating" way of assisting, the cardinal said.
Bertone warned of the "war of interests" between pharmaceutical companies and developing nations who have little access to medicines because they can't pay for them. He said that those manufacturers should not be driven by "profit as the only objective" in the creation and distribution of medicines.
Archbishop Zygmunt Zimowski, president of the Pontifical Council for Health Care Ministry, said in opening remarks that to have good health "is a natural right" recognized by international institutions.
Despite such recognition, he said, great imbalances persist and developing nations find themselves with inadequate structures and without the ability to provide basic medicines to their people. Wealthier countries, on the other hand, have a "technical" approach to the sick, which ignores "the sick person in his entirety and dignity," Zimowski said.
The council, created by Pope John Paul II 25 years ago, will continue the church's mission to serve the sick and promote health for all, the archbishop said.
Hooray for the pope!!! At
Hooray for the pope!!! At last I've found something Pope Benedict has said with which I am in full agreement. Peter has spoken through Benedict.
Now, suddenly we'll see the young fogies and their fellow "conservatives" having grave reservations about this pope's "orthodoxy" LOL LOL LOL. Hmmmmm, how can an "infallible" pope also be a "socialist", a believer in " big government too? LOL LOL
So is Pope Benedict saying
So is Pope Benedict saying that he will now put the Church's great wealth in real estate up for sale so that those who do not have access to universal health care will be guaranteed such care? Put your money where your mouth is. Words are cheap. Actions count.
Chris Smith, God, I sure hope
Chris Smith, God, I sure hope so. Melt down those gold and jeweled party hats, the solid gold ceiling of Santa Maria Maggiore (whether archpriest Bernard Law likes it or not), and dip into the chests of loot the pontiffs have been sitting on for centuries.
Charity begins at home.
My friend, please show some
My friend, please show some respect. He's still the Pope, whether you agree with him or not.
Hey, Mr. Smith, you might
Hey, Mr. Smith, you might think it is smart to call out the Catholic church, but over the past 2000 years they have done more in the way of caring for the poor and the sick than you will ever know. Through the help of thousands of catholic charities, they have done more than their share to operate hospitals and medical facilities around the world. Even with this effort, it is not enough, and was never meant to substitute private efforts. This is why the Pope has asked governments to help in this effort. Sure actions count and they have done theirs. Are you ready to do yours.
Well, I guess some of the
Well, I guess some of the frequent posters around here are just going to have to remind the old man about "subsidiarity" because he's obviously forgotten one of the cardinal virtues of the Capitalist/Catholic Church.
If those frequent posters
If those frequent posters truly believed in "subsidiarity," they would take care of their fellow man and there would be no need of government intervention.
"Access to adequate medical
"Access to adequate medical attention" is the way the Pope phrased it. I don't have a problem with that but one must be careful in talking about the "inalienable rights" of man.
I think it might be more helpful to speak of goals rather than rights. If a person has a right to something, then he should be able to claim it & receive it. In very poor countries people don't often have enough to eat, let alone access to adequate medical attention.
Ideally, in all the countries of the world there should be some sort of safety net so that no human person goes without the basic necessities if he or his family cannot provide them to him. However, in order for this to happen, all the countries of the world need healthy economies.
Great. I've got a whole pile
Great. I've got a whole pile of bills that need paying. Where do I send them?
Good news for all.
Good news for all.
Well, well, well. What about
Well, well, well. What about our bishops--no mention of any of this at their conference---just insulting scheming orchestrated by the likes of EWTN--and healthcare is the last thing you'll hear about on EWTN.
So where is Dolan--still using the spurious abortion issue.
Paulte writes in this thread
Paulte writes in this thread that it is "more helpful to speak of goals rather than rights." Cute. You sound like you are a lobbyist for the insurance companies. They like "goals" and they hate "rights" because "rights" represent a position that the "public option" should be a right. It should. The Insurance Companies have more than lost their moral "right" to be represented at the table. Look at the millions who die daily because the insurance companies control the "rights" and the "goals" discussion. Your words may seem hollow and without a connection to the realities on the ground. I believe, and apparently so does the Pope, that healthcare should be a universal "right". By the way, it is not only poor countries that, to quote you, Paulte, "people don't often have enough to eat, let alone access to adequate to adequate medical attention." Wake up. This is the case all over North America, not just "poor countries"! Earth to Paulte: Come in please.
This right is recognized
This right is recognized explicitly by Pacem in Terris as well as by the United Nations.
Given Pope Ratzinger's
Given Pope Ratzinger's penchant for talking the talk while failing to walk the walk, one wonders if residents and employess of the Vatican are given healthcare as one of their "inalienable rights." NCR would do well to investigate this.
Witness how many decades the Popes preached fair labor practices while local bishops and religious institutions fought tooth and nail to keep employees of Catholic instituions from unionizing and failed to pay anything approaching a just wage to their employees.
As an afterthought, it's interesting to see the pope taking one of our prized concepts--inalienable rights--while heading an instituion that denies freedom of speech, due process, women's and GLBT rights, accountability, transparency and intellectual freedom, among other "inalienable" rights.
Interesting points,
Interesting points, particularly the negative comments about surgical consumerism and its leading to a "cult of the body". Does this mean that Catholic health care must exclusively perform reconstructive plastic surgery (to cure a birth defect or traumatic injury) and eschew cosmetic surgery? Will well to do suburban country club Catholic women be excommunicated for all those lifts, tucks, lip injections and botox?
So, this makes him either a
So, this makes him either a closet Democrat, or an American nun in Vatican drag!
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