by Michele Gatta

Pope Francis, speaking at the plenary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, dedicated to the care of people in the critical and terminal stages of life, warned against the temptation to lose the true value of life. 

Pope Francis underlines how in this socio-cultural context, life is evaluated only in the name of utility while the "mandatory duties of solidarity and brotherhood" are lacking. In particular on terminally ill patients and on the urgency of "converting the gaze of the heart" to the light of compassion, Francis underlined the good that hospices do where "dignity therapy" is practiced.

«In reality, a society deserves the qualification of “civil” if it develops antibodies against the throwaway culture; if it recognizes the intangible value of human life; if solidarity is effectively practiced and safeguarded as the foundation of coexistence".

Doctrine, a dynamic reality        

Thanking the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith for its service to the Church, Francis indicated that "faith demands that we take into account its recipient, that we know and love him effectively" and that "Christian doctrine is not a rigid system and closed in on itself, but not even an ideology that changes with the passing of the seasons; it is a dynamic reality which, remaining faithful to its foundation, is renewed from generation to generation and is summarized in a face, a body and a name: the Risen Jesus Christ".

Then focusing on the moment in which "illness knocks at the door of our life", the Pope recalls how important compassion is, "a refrain" in the Gospel, and the presence of someone who holds our hand, a Good Samaritan, a " human platform of relationships" that open to hope, a balm to alleviate "emotional distress" and "spiritual anguish". «Never abandon anyone – underlines Francis – in the presence of incurable illnesses. Human life, due to its eternal destination, retains all its value and all its dignity in any condition, even of precariousness and fragility, and as such is always worthy of the utmost consideration."

«The example of the Good Samaritan teaches that it is necessary to convert the gaze of the heart, because many times those who look do not see. Why? Because compassion is missing. Without compassion, the beholder does not remain involved in what he observes and moves on; instead those who have a compassionate heart are touched and involved, they stop and take care of it."

Francis cites Saint Teresa of Calcutta to design "the style of proximity and sharing", "making dying more human". An important task that hospices carry out today.