Pope Francis Suffering from Bronchitis Keeps his Schedule and Meets OB-GYNs Praising their "vocation" and "hymn to life"
.png)
Pope Francis' audiences will be held at Casa Santa Marta; "Due to bronchitis that he is experiencing these days, and in order to continue his activities, on Friday, February 7, and Saturday, February 8, according to the Vatican Press Office.
The Holy Father also held his scheduled audiences on Thursday morning at his residence in the Vatican instead of at the Apostolic Palace. He met with midwives, gynaecologists, and healthcare personnel from provinces in Italy’s southern Calabria region.
FULL TEXT GREETING OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS
TO MIDWIVES, GYNECOLOGISTS AND STAFF OF THE PROVINCES
OF CATANZARO, COSENZA, CROTONE AND VIBO VALENTIA
Casa Santa Marta
Thursday, 6 February 2025
__________________
Delivered speech
Dear sisters and brothers, good morning!
I am particularly happy to welcome you, midwives, gynecologists and health workers from Calabria. Yours is a beautiful profession, a vocation and a hymn to life, all the more important in this historical moment. In fact, in Italy, and also in other countries, enthusiasm for motherhood and fatherhood seems to have been lost; they are seen as a source of difficulties and problems, rather than as the opening of a new horizon of creativity and happiness. And this – we know – depends a lot on the social and cultural context. For this reason, you, as a professional Order, have given yourselves a programmatic objective: to reverse the trend of declining birth rates. Well done! I congratulate you. And so I would like to reflect with you on three complementary and interdependent areas of your life and your mission: professionalism, human sensitivity and, for those who believe, prayer.
First: professionalism. The continuous improvement of skills is part not only of your code of ethics, but also of a path of lay sanctity (see Homily in the Mass with some Canonizations, 15 May 2022). Competence is the tool with which you can best exercise the charity entrusted to you, both in the ordinary accompaniment of future mothers and in dealing with critical and painful situations. In all these cases, the presence of trained professionals gives serenity and, in the most serious situations, can save lives.
Second: human sensitivity. In a crucial moment of existence such as the birth of a son or daughter, one can feel vulnerable, fragile, and therefore more in need of closeness, tenderness, warmth. It is so good, in such circumstances, to have sensitive and delicate people at one’s side. I therefore recommend that you cultivate, in addition to professional ability, a great sense of humanity, which confirms “in the hearts of the parents the desire and joy for the new life, blossomed from their love” (St. John Paul II, Address to midwives, January 26, 1980) and helps to “ensure the child a healthy and happy birth” (ibid.).
And we come to the third point: prayer. It is a hidden but effective medicine that those who believe have at their disposal, because it heals the soul. Sometimes it will be possible to share it with patients; in other circumstances, it can be offered to God with discretion and humility, in one’s heart, respecting everyone’s belief and path. However, prayer will always help to strengthen that "admirable collaboration of parents, nature and God, from which a new human being comes to light in the image and likeness of the Creator", as Venerable Pius XII said (Address to the Italian Catholic Union of Midwives, 29 October 1951). I therefore encourage you to feel the responsibility towards the mothers, fathers and children that God places in your path, to pray for them too, especially in the Holy Mass, in Eucharistic Adoration and in simple and daily prayer.
Dear sisters and dear brothers, thank you for all the good you do every day! Continue to carry out your mission with enthusiasm and generosity. I bless you, your work and your families. And I ask you, please, not to forget to pray for me too. Source: Vatican.va
TO MIDWIVES, GYNECOLOGISTS AND STAFF OF THE PROVINCES
OF CATANZARO, COSENZA, CROTONE AND VIBO VALENTIA
Casa Santa Marta
Thursday, 6 February 2025
__________________
Delivered speech
Dear sisters and brothers, good morning!
I am particularly happy to welcome you, midwives, gynecologists and health workers from Calabria. Yours is a beautiful profession, a vocation and a hymn to life, all the more important in this historical moment. In fact, in Italy, and also in other countries, enthusiasm for motherhood and fatherhood seems to have been lost; they are seen as a source of difficulties and problems, rather than as the opening of a new horizon of creativity and happiness. And this – we know – depends a lot on the social and cultural context. For this reason, you, as a professional Order, have given yourselves a programmatic objective: to reverse the trend of declining birth rates. Well done! I congratulate you. And so I would like to reflect with you on three complementary and interdependent areas of your life and your mission: professionalism, human sensitivity and, for those who believe, prayer.
First: professionalism. The continuous improvement of skills is part not only of your code of ethics, but also of a path of lay sanctity (see Homily in the Mass with some Canonizations, 15 May 2022). Competence is the tool with which you can best exercise the charity entrusted to you, both in the ordinary accompaniment of future mothers and in dealing with critical and painful situations. In all these cases, the presence of trained professionals gives serenity and, in the most serious situations, can save lives.
Second: human sensitivity. In a crucial moment of existence such as the birth of a son or daughter, one can feel vulnerable, fragile, and therefore more in need of closeness, tenderness, warmth. It is so good, in such circumstances, to have sensitive and delicate people at one’s side. I therefore recommend that you cultivate, in addition to professional ability, a great sense of humanity, which confirms “in the hearts of the parents the desire and joy for the new life, blossomed from their love” (St. John Paul II, Address to midwives, January 26, 1980) and helps to “ensure the child a healthy and happy birth” (ibid.).
And we come to the third point: prayer. It is a hidden but effective medicine that those who believe have at their disposal, because it heals the soul. Sometimes it will be possible to share it with patients; in other circumstances, it can be offered to God with discretion and humility, in one’s heart, respecting everyone’s belief and path. However, prayer will always help to strengthen that "admirable collaboration of parents, nature and God, from which a new human being comes to light in the image and likeness of the Creator", as Venerable Pius XII said (Address to the Italian Catholic Union of Midwives, 29 October 1951). I therefore encourage you to feel the responsibility towards the mothers, fathers and children that God places in your path, to pray for them too, especially in the Holy Mass, in Eucharistic Adoration and in simple and daily prayer.
Dear sisters and dear brothers, thank you for all the good you do every day! Continue to carry out your mission with enthusiasm and generosity. I bless you, your work and your families. And I ask you, please, not to forget to pray for me too. Source: Vatican.va
Comments