Greeting Address of His Eminence Cardinal GIANFRANCO RAVASI

To His Holiness Pope Francis

April 28, 2018

Your Holiness,

         Before you is gathered an assembly that I wish to present to you by using a symbol and a motto. The symbolic image comes from the world of art. It is the mosaic, made of many different colored squares of various shape that gather together to make a harmonic and united design. Well, convening from many different horizons and Continents, we have here – convened by the Pontifical Council for Culture in collaboration with other dicasteries and Vatican institutions and some international foundations – scientists and researchers, doctors, healthcare and social workers, and also religious leaders of many different beliefs, exponents of politics, diplomacy, law and industry, scholars of ethics, anthropology, philanthropy and in particular young students and some patients.

         This mosaic of diverse experiences and different fields of interest has gathered harmonically around an important motto: “Unite to Cure.” Their united commitment is to cure the marvelous “microcosm” that is the human person, especially when small and fragile. Our thoughts are turned, then, to all those who suffer and are sick, particularly the children and the elderly, to the rare (or orphan) sicknesses and those without a certified therapeutic protocol, such as in the case of Alfie who died this night, and to the developing countries that struggle to reach the high-level paths of pharmaceutic, therapeutic and technological research.

         But cure must also look to that “macrocosm” that is our planet, the common home that you placed at the heart of your encyclical Laudato Si’, restating the need for a culture of life in all its forms on Earth, that often-devastated garden.

         The cure, finally, cannot be separated from the great anthropological questions that science and technology generate. So we have heard the voices of various religions and cultures, as the human being is not only a mass of biological cells but also a person who loves, believes, hopes and suffers. It is in this light that the living mosaic of the community united here now waits to hear your voice, Holy Father. And those of us who believe in God are praying for you and your mission.

[Conference website: http://vaticanconference2018.com]