Pope Francis to Pharmacists "...you can be inspired by the millenary tradition that here in Europe dates back to the ancient pharmacies of the monasteries. But today, thanks be to God, these roots can be enriched..." FULL TEXT

GREETING OF THE HOLY FATHER FRANCIS

TO THE MANAGERS OF THE INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF CATHOLIC PHARMACISTS 

 Monday, May 2, 2022

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Dear friends, good morning and welcome!

This audience was supposed to be at the Apostolic Palace, but because of my knee it's here. Excuse me. I thank your President for his kind words, and I am happy to meet you as representatives of the world of pharmacists. You are the leaders of the International Federation of Catholic Pharmacists, but we know that our ecclesial associations are always open to all and at the service of all, naturally in compliance with the principles of Christian morality, founded on the dignity of the human person.

The covid-19 pandemic has put pharmacists, so to speak, at the forefront. Citizens, often lost, have found in you a point of reference for assistance, advice, information, and also - we know it well - to be able to quickly carry out the tests necessary for life and daily activities. I think that this crisis situation has also provoked in your professional environment the need to "make up", to support each other. And this should be an incentive to join. I congratulate your Federation because it has been able to read this crisis also as an opportunity and has relaunched the value of associative commitment, typical of the Catholic tradition.

I would like to return to your social role . Pharmacists are like a "bridge" between citizens and the health system. This is very bureaucratized, and what's more, the pandemic has put a strain on it, slowing down, if not at times paralyzing, the procedures. This concretely involves greater inconvenience, greater suffering and, unfortunately, further damage to health for those who are sick. In this context, the category of pharmacists offers a twofold contribution to the common good: it lightens the burden on the health system and eases social tension. Of course this role must be carried out with great prudence and professional seriousness, but for people the aspect of closeness is very important - I emphasize this: closeness -, the aspect of the advice, of that familiarity that should be proper to health care. "on a human scale". This is true. In the neighborhoods the pharmacists are the home, they are in hand. You have to go to the doctor, but to the pharmacists you go,

Another aspect that I would like to mention, which also has a social and cultural value, is the contribution that pharmacists can make for the conversion to an integral ecology.. We are all called to learn a lifestyle that is more respectful of the environment in which God has placed us, of our common home. And this lifestyle also includes a healthy way of eating and, in general, of living. I think that even on this, pharmacists can "make culture", promoting greater wisdom in leading a healthy life. In this you can be inspired by the millenary tradition that here in Europe dates back to the ancient pharmacies of the monasteries. But today, thanks be to God, these roots can be enriched with the knowledge and practices of other cultures, such as those of the East, or those of the native peoples of America. I would say that you pharmacists can help us unmask the deceptions of a false well-being and educate to a true "good life", which is not a privilege of a few but within everyone's reach. The good life,

Dear friends, I wish you all the best for your work and for your association journey. I cordially bless you and entrust you to the intercession of the Virgin Mary and your patron Saint John Leonardi. And please don't forget to pray for me.

Source: Vatican.va - Screenshot