“The
Church at the Service of Sick Elderly People: Care for People with
Neurodegenerative Pathologies” is the theme of the 28th International
Conference of the Pontifical Council for Health Care Workers (Health
Care Pastoral) scheduled to take place in the Vatican's New Synod Hall
from 21 to 23 November.
In a press conference held in the Holy See Press
Office this morning, the initiative was presented by Archbishop Zygmunt
Zimowski, president of the dicastery, accompanied by by Msgr.
Jean-Marie Mupendawatu and Fr. Augusto Chendi, M.I., respectively
secretary and under-secretary of the same dicastery, along with Dr.
Gabriella Salvini Porro, president of the Alzheimer Federation, Italy,
and Dr. Gabriele Carbone, head of the Dementia Centre – Alzheimer Unit,
Italian Hospital Group, Guidonia, Italy.
“The four cardinal points”
of the conference are “in-depth study, dialogue and exchange of
experiences, reflection and prayer, with the aim of improving health
care as far as possible, in the form of pastoral service to the sick and
suffering”, explained Archbishop Zimowski.
The work of the conference
“will be inaugurated with a Holy Mass at the Chair of St. Peter, and
will culminate on Saturday 23 November in an encounter of reflection and
prayer prior to the audience with Pope Francis. ... There will be
almost 700 participants, including researchers, doctors, ecclesial and
health-care workers, professionals and volunteers, all engaged in the
care of elderly people, and they come from over 57 countries, in all
five continents”.
“This year's theme was chosen, bearing in mind its
current and future importance, the needs to which it gives rise in terms
of pastoral care, and the importance, as Pope Francis has reaffirmed on
numerous occasions, of promoting a more inclusive society, in which
even the weakest sectors of the population may be fully integrated,
respected and valued”.
The archbishop went on to explain that nowadays
the various forms of senile dementia – of which Alzheimer's is the most
widespread, diagnosed in over fifty percent of recorded cases – is on
the increase, affecting 35 million people worldwide at a rate of
7,700,000 new cases each year.
“According to these estimates”, he
continued, “by 2030 the number of cases could exceed 65 million. The
impact of such pathologies is enormous: on the person directly affected,
but also on the family, the community and, more extensively, at a
social and national level. Therefore in many states, institutional
efforts are decisive, but as the work of this Conference will
demonstrate, an indispensable contribution is to be made by those close
to the patient, as well as parishes, communities, ad hoc religious and
lay structures, non-governmental associations and entities: all of which
not infrequently 'make all the difference' in the care of elderly sick
people”.
“However, there is still much to be done. As the last
International Day of Older Persons highlighted, those who are no longer
young risk neglect, even on the part of the ecclesial community. … There
are many opportunities for helping the elderly to spend their free time
intelligently, and many proposals for helping them to be useful. But
evangelisation is another thing entirely. Evangelising old age means
discovering its innate and original possibilities, its true meanings,
its intrinsic values … It is, first and foremost, a question of
meanings, not of things or activities. Through solidarity between the
young and the elderly, it can be seen how the Church is effectively the
family of all generations. … When life becomes frail, in old age, it
never loses its value and its dignity: everyone is wanted and loved by
God, everyone is important and necessary”.
The Conference will
consider the following themes: “The epidemiology and health-care policy
of neurodegenerative illnesses: the silent epidemic of the third
millennium”; “Research and treatment: current and future utility”; “The
elderly person with neurodegenerative illnesses”; “Neurodegenerative
illnesses and places of care: between the hospital and the local area”;
“Preventive actions and potential advantages of technological progress”;
“The theological and pastoral perspective” and “The action of the
Church”.