Pope Francis Meets with Children with Rare Diseases and Gives them Rosaries Asking Our Lady to Accompany them
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SPEECH OF THE HOLY FATHER FRANCIS
TO THE DELEGATION OF THE ITALIAN FEDERATION FOR RARE DISEASES (UNIAMO)
Clementine Hall
Monday, February 13, 2023
________________________________________
Speech delivered by the Holy Father
Dear brothers and sisters, good morning and welcome!
I thank the President for her kind words and I greet all of you, who are members of the Italian Federation of Rare Diseases. I have had the opportunity to greet you other times after the Angelus, on the occasion of Rare Disease Day, which occurs on 28 February. Today, however, we can get to know each other better and share your hopes and sufferings. Sharing, as your motto says, which can be summed up in the word "Let's unite". Let's join experiences, join forces, join hopes. This keyword of yours is fundamental and deserves reflection.
The first value of your organization is precisely that of sharing. At first it is a necessity, then it becomes a choice. When a father and mother discover that their child has a rare disease, they need to get to know other parents who have had and are experiencing the same experience.
It's a necessity. And since the pathology is rare, it becomes essential to refer to an association that brings together people who deal with that disease every day: they know the symptoms, therapies, treatment centers and so on. At the beginning this is an obligatory path, a way out of the anguish of being alone and unarmed in front of the enemy. Slowly, however, the way of sharing becomes a choice, supported by two reasons. The first is realizing that it is useful, it helps us, it offers us solutions, at least temporary, it allows us to orient ourselves a little in the fog of this situation. And the second motivation comes from the pleasure of human relationships, from the good that friendships do us with people we didn't even know until yesterday and who now confide their experiences to us to help us carry a very heavy condition together. This is the first great value that I see in you, in your associative reality.
Then there is another value, equally important but different, on a social and also political level. It is the potential that an association like yours has to make a decisive contribution to the common good. In this case, to improve the quality of the health service of a country, a region, a territory. Indeed, good politics also depends on the contribution of associations, which, on specific issues, have the necessary knowledge and attention to people who risk being neglected. Here is the decisive point: it is not a question of claiming favors for one's own category, this is not good politics; but it is a question of fighting so that no one is excluded from the health service, no one is discriminated against, no one penalized. And this starting from an experience like yours which is strongly at risk of marginalization. Let me give you an example: realities like yours can put pressure on us to overcome national and commercial barriers to share the results of scientific research, so as to be able to achieve objectives that today appear very distant.
Sure, it's hard to commit to everyone when it's already hard to face your own problem. But herein lies the strength of the association and even more of the federation: the ability to give a voice to many who, alone, could not make themselves heard, and thus represent a need. In this sense, it would be important to involve and listen to patient representatives from the early stages of the decision-making processes. Indeed, associations not only ask but also give. In relating to institutions, at various levels, you not only ask, but also give: knowledge, contacts, and above all people, people who can lend a hand for the common good, if they work in a spirit of service and civic sense.
Dear friends, I thank you for this much appreciated visit. I encourage you to go forward in your commitment. I ask Our Lady to accompany every person and every family facing a rare disease. I warmly bless you and your entire community. And I ask you please to pray for me. Thank you!
___________________________________________
During the audience, the Holy Father welcomed some children to his side, giving them rosary beads, and said these words:
Sometimes, we prepare the things to say, all the ideas… But reality speaks better than ideas. They made the real speech today, approaching with all naturalness, giving the best of themselves, a smile, a curiosity, reaching out to take the rosary... They are not stupid, no one! They know how to do it well. And this was the sermon today, for us. This is why I thought that continuing to speak, after this living sermon, made no sense. I will give the text to the President and then she will make it known. And after the blessing, I will say goodbye to all of you. This is the text I meant. But the real sermon was what they gave us, with their limitations, with their illnesses, but they made us understand that there is always a chance to grow and move forward.
And thank you, thank you for this. That was the reward for you, seeing how these guys fared. Thanks to you.
TO THE DELEGATION OF THE ITALIAN FEDERATION FOR RARE DISEASES (UNIAMO)
Clementine Hall
Monday, February 13, 2023
________________________________________
Speech delivered by the Holy Father
Dear brothers and sisters, good morning and welcome!
I thank the President for her kind words and I greet all of you, who are members of the Italian Federation of Rare Diseases. I have had the opportunity to greet you other times after the Angelus, on the occasion of Rare Disease Day, which occurs on 28 February. Today, however, we can get to know each other better and share your hopes and sufferings. Sharing, as your motto says, which can be summed up in the word "Let's unite". Let's join experiences, join forces, join hopes. This keyword of yours is fundamental and deserves reflection.
The first value of your organization is precisely that of sharing. At first it is a necessity, then it becomes a choice. When a father and mother discover that their child has a rare disease, they need to get to know other parents who have had and are experiencing the same experience.
It's a necessity. And since the pathology is rare, it becomes essential to refer to an association that brings together people who deal with that disease every day: they know the symptoms, therapies, treatment centers and so on. At the beginning this is an obligatory path, a way out of the anguish of being alone and unarmed in front of the enemy. Slowly, however, the way of sharing becomes a choice, supported by two reasons. The first is realizing that it is useful, it helps us, it offers us solutions, at least temporary, it allows us to orient ourselves a little in the fog of this situation. And the second motivation comes from the pleasure of human relationships, from the good that friendships do us with people we didn't even know until yesterday and who now confide their experiences to us to help us carry a very heavy condition together. This is the first great value that I see in you, in your associative reality.
Then there is another value, equally important but different, on a social and also political level. It is the potential that an association like yours has to make a decisive contribution to the common good. In this case, to improve the quality of the health service of a country, a region, a territory. Indeed, good politics also depends on the contribution of associations, which, on specific issues, have the necessary knowledge and attention to people who risk being neglected. Here is the decisive point: it is not a question of claiming favors for one's own category, this is not good politics; but it is a question of fighting so that no one is excluded from the health service, no one is discriminated against, no one penalized. And this starting from an experience like yours which is strongly at risk of marginalization. Let me give you an example: realities like yours can put pressure on us to overcome national and commercial barriers to share the results of scientific research, so as to be able to achieve objectives that today appear very distant.
Sure, it's hard to commit to everyone when it's already hard to face your own problem. But herein lies the strength of the association and even more of the federation: the ability to give a voice to many who, alone, could not make themselves heard, and thus represent a need. In this sense, it would be important to involve and listen to patient representatives from the early stages of the decision-making processes. Indeed, associations not only ask but also give. In relating to institutions, at various levels, you not only ask, but also give: knowledge, contacts, and above all people, people who can lend a hand for the common good, if they work in a spirit of service and civic sense.
Dear friends, I thank you for this much appreciated visit. I encourage you to go forward in your commitment. I ask Our Lady to accompany every person and every family facing a rare disease. I warmly bless you and your entire community. And I ask you please to pray for me. Thank you!
___________________________________________
During the audience, the Holy Father welcomed some children to his side, giving them rosary beads, and said these words:
Sometimes, we prepare the things to say, all the ideas… But reality speaks better than ideas. They made the real speech today, approaching with all naturalness, giving the best of themselves, a smile, a curiosity, reaching out to take the rosary... They are not stupid, no one! They know how to do it well. And this was the sermon today, for us. This is why I thought that continuing to speak, after this living sermon, made no sense. I will give the text to the President and then she will make it known. And after the blessing, I will say goodbye to all of you. This is the text I meant. But the real sermon was what they gave us, with their limitations, with their illnesses, but they made us understand that there is always a chance to grow and move forward.
And thank you, thank you for this. That was the reward for you, seeing how these guys fared. Thanks to you.
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