{"id":13544,"date":"2022-01-14T18:49:50","date_gmt":"2022-01-14T18:49:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/?p=13544"},"modified":"2022-01-14T18:49:50","modified_gmt":"2022-01-14T18:49:50","slug":"vatican-in-annual-address-to-diplomats-pope-francis-shares-concerns-for-humanity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/2022\/01\/14\/vatican-in-annual-address-to-diplomats-pope-francis-shares-concerns-for-humanity\/","title":{"rendered":"VATICAN: In Annual Address to Diplomats Pope Francis Shares Concerns for Humanity"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sr. Jecinter Antoinette Okoth, FSSA<\/em><\/p>\n

In an annual \u201cfamily gathering\u201d for members of the Diplomatic corps, Pope Francis has shared his concerns for humanity as he reflects on issues which include Covid-19 vaccine, climate change, migrants and education as a way of promoting a culture of dialogue and fraternity among other concerns.<\/p>\n

Speaking to Ambassadors representing the 183 States that have diplomatic relations<\/a> with the Holy See, the Pope noted that Covid-19 pandemic is still a concern hence everyone needs to make effort to fight against its spread in the world as it \u201ccontinues to cause social isolation and to take lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have realized that in those places where an effective vaccination campaign has taken place, the risk of severe repercussions of the disease has decreased,\u201d the Pope said in his Monday, January 10, message<\/a> and explained further, \u201cIt is therefore important to continue the effort to immunize the general population as much as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis calls for a manifold commitment on the personal, political and international levels. First, on the personal level – each of us has the responsibility to care for our self and our health, and this translates into respect for the health of those around us, (since) health care is a moral obligation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The Pontiff also urged the international community to be committed in ensuring that the \u201centire world population can have equal access to essential medical care and vaccines,\u201d since some regions still lack access to vaccines.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can only note with regret that, for large areas of the world, universal access to health care remains an illusion. At this grave moment in the life of humanity, I reiterate my appeal that governments and concerned private entities demonstrate a sense of responsibility, developing a coordinated response at every level (local, national, regional, global), through new models of solidarity and tools to strengthen the capabilities of those countries in greatest need,\u201d reads an excerpt of the Monday\u2019s message.<\/p>\n

During his “state of the world” address, the Pope further appreciated individuals and governments \u201cworking to ensure that migrants are welcomed and protected, and support human promotion and integration in the countries that have received them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI am aware of the difficulties that some states encounter in the face of a large influx of people. No one can be asked to do what is impossible for them, yet there is a clear difference between accepting, albeit in a limited way, and rejecting completely,\u201d Pope Francis shared with the Ambassadors adding that, \u201cThere is a need to overcome indifference and to reject the idea that migrants are a problem for others.\u201d<\/p>\n

He warned on dehumanization of migrants especially in \u201chotspots where they end up as easy prey to organized crime and human traffickers, or engage in desperate attempts to escape that at times end in death\u201d saying \u201cSadly, we must also note that migrants are themselves often turned into a weapon of political blackmail, becoming a sort of \u201cbargaining commodity\u201d that deprives them of their dignity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Concerning education, the Pope highlighted its significance especially in the life of young generation who are the \u201cfuture and hope of the world\u201d saying, \u201cEducation is the primary vehicle of integral human development, for it makes individuals free and responsible.\u201d<\/p>\n

He acknowledged that the \u201ceducational process is slow and laborious, and can lead at times to discouragement, but we can never abandon it. It is an outstanding expression of dialogue, for no true education can lack a dialogical structure,\u201d and at the same time education \u201cgives rise to culture and builds bridges of encounter between peoples.\u201d<\/p>\n

He further emphasized that the Catholic Church recognizes and values \u201cthe role of education in the spiritual, moral and social growth of the young,\u201d and it is unfortunate \u201cThe pandemic prevented many young people from attending school, to the detriment of their personal and social development.\u201d<\/p>\n

In concluding sharing his concerns with the Diplomats, Pope Francis reflected on the message of prophet Jeremiah, assuring the State Ambassadors not to be afraid to make \u201croom for peace in our lives by cultivating dialogue and fraternity among one another,\u201d underscoring that \u201cthe gift of peace is \u201ccontagious\u201d; it radiates from the hearts of those who long for it and aspire to share it, and spreads throughout the whole world.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sr. Jecinter Antoinette Okoth, FSSA In an annual \u201cfamily gathering\u201d for members of the Diplomatic…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13522,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13544","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-amecea-news","category-vatican"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13544","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13544"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13544\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13545,"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13544\/revisions\/13545"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13522"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13544"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13544"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13544"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}