VATICAN (OSV/Vatican News): Universal health coverage is not “merely a technical goal to be achieved” but a “moral imperative,” Pope Leo XIV told participants at a conference on health equity entitled, “Today, who is my neighbour?” on 18 March.
“It is primarily a moral imperative for societies that wish to call themselves just,” and is also essential to prevent injustice from becoming a cause of conflict, the pope said in a private audience at the Vatican. The conference was organised by the Council of the Bishops’ Conferences of Europe, the World Health Organisation [European Region] and the Italian Episcopal Conference.
The audience took place on the same day as the release of the second “WHO European Health Equity Status Report.” The document, the pope said, “draws attention to the situations faced by many poor and isolated people in Europe.”
Pope Leo noted that inequalities in healthcare are increasing in many European nations, and he called for urgent attention to mental health, particularly among young people.
“Healthcare must be accessible to the most vulnerable, not only because their dignity requires it but also to prevent injustice from becoming a cause of conflict,” he said. It is, he added, “an essential condition for social peace.”
Healthcare must be accessible to the most vulnerable, not only because their dignity requires it but also to prevent injustice from becoming a cause of conflict [it is] an essential condition for social peace
Pope Leo XIV
After reflecting on passages from the gospel, from the Book of Genesis, from St. Augustine’s writings, and Pope Francis’ encyclical, Fratelli Tutti, Pope Leo said, “Distance, distraction and desensitisation to the sight of violence and the suffering of others lead us towards indifference. Yet all men and women, especially Christians, are called to fix their gaze on those who suffer: on the pain of the lonely, on those who, for various reasons, are marginalised and considered ‘outcasts.’ For without them, we cannot build just societies founded on the human person.”
Only together, the pope continued, “can we build communities of solidarity capable of caring for everyone, in which well-being and peace can flourish for the benefit of all.”
He said, “Caring for the humanity of others helps us to live our own lives to the full.”
The pope reaffirmed that the Church’s role is always at the “service of the advancement of humanity and of universal fraternity.”
He said that Churches throughout the world, in cooperation with international organisations, can “play a decisive role today in combating inequalities in healthcare, particularly in support of the most vulnerable populations.”
Finally, he appealed to Christians to ensure that “our Christian lifestyle will always reflect this fraternal, ‘Samaritan’ spirit—one that is welcoming, courageous, committed and supportive, rooted in our union with God and our faith in Jesus Christ.”
