Pope Francis visited AIDS patients in Zimpeto dream center in Mozambique

Pope Francis recalled the parable of the Good Samaritan during his visit to the Zimpeto Medical Center in Mozambique, which carries out important health work in the territory because, in addition to treating people infected with the HIV / AIDS virus, he has of a molecular biology laboratory to diagnose and prevent various diseases

After saying goodbye to the Apostolic Nunciature of Maputo, the Holy Father went very early to this hospital where also the DREAM project (Aid for the relief of diseases by excellent and advanced means) of the Community from San Egidio.

For this reason, the pontiff was received on his arrival by the founder of San Egidio, Andrea Riccardi, national coordinator of the DREAM project and local director of the Maputo center, while the children and the local volunteers were singing.

The time of arrival of #Papa Francisco In the center @dream_segidio to meet people with AIDS during their visit to #Mozambique #PopeinAfrica #PapaInMozambico Video: VAMP Pool #StayTuned @aciprensa @aciafricanews @EWTNVatican pic.twitter.com/HN99WRWFAF

– Mercedes De la Torre (@mercedesdelat) September 6, 2019

According to the organizers, nearly 1,500 people were present during this brief visit, including patients, family members, volunteers, benefactors, as well as church leaders and civil authorities.

During this warm encounter, Pope Francis also unveiled a plaque commemorating the visit and underlined "the hopeful light of so many people who welcome" to this place, adding that this light received by so many men and women allowed them to go to the shelter. Also at the service.

In this spirit, the Holy Father encouraged them to continue the work they have done with this population of Mozambique since June 7, 2018, the date of the inauguration of this medical center, and in the rest. countries of Africa.

Then the pope heard the greetings of a sick woman and then visited sick people at this medical center.

We then publish the text prepared by Pope Francis for this private visit.

Dear brothers and sisters,
Thank you very much for the warm and fraternal welcome; also by the words of Cacilda.

Thank you for your life and your testimony, which means that this versatile health center "San Egidio" of Zimpeto is the manifestation of the love of God, always ready to breathe life and hope where abound death and pain .

I warmly greet the managers, the health operators, the patients and their families, as well as all those present. See how they treat and welcome so many patients with competence, professionalism and loveEspecially for patients with HIV / AIDS, especially women and children, I remember the parable of the Good Samaritan.

All who have come here, all who come with despair and anguish, are like this man lying by the roadside. And here you have not gone, you have not followed your path as others have done – the Levite and the priest.

This center shows us that some have stopped and felt compbadion, that they have not succumbed to the temptation to say "there is nothing to do", "it is impossible to fight against this scourge "and were encouraged to find solutions. As Cacilda said, you heard that silent scream and barely audible countless women, so many people who lived in shame, were marginalized and judged by all. That's why they added to this house, where the Lord lives with those who are at the side of the road, those who suffer from cancer, tuberculosis and hundreds of malnourished people, especially children and women. youth.

Thus, all people who participate in different ways in this community of health become an expression of the Heart of Jesus so that no one thinks "that their cry was lost in the void. […]They are a sign of closeness to those who need it, to feel the active presence of a brother or sister. What the poor do not need is an act of delegation, but the personal commitment of those who hear their cry. The demand of believers can not be limited to a form of badistance – which is necessary and providential at first – but requires that "loving care," which honors the other as a person and seeks their good. (Message on the Second World Day of the Poor November 18, 2018, n. 3).

Listening to this cry, they understood that medical treatment, certainly necessary, was not enough. That is why they have looked at the whole problem to restore the dignity of women and children and help them plan for a better future.

In this vast field they have opened themselves to constant listening, they have also known their limitation, the lack of means of all kinds. The program, which they developed and put them in touch with other parts of the world, is a example of humility for having recognized its own limits and creativity for networking.

"Often, collaboration with other initiatives, not motivated by faith but by human solidarity, allows us to provide help that we could not create alone. Recognize that, in the immense world of poverty, our intervention is also limited, weak and insufficient, which leads us to address others, so that mutual collaboration can achieve its goal more effectively. We are moved by faith and the imperative of charity, although we know how to recognize other forms of help and solidarity which, in part, set the same goals […]. An adequate and fully evangelical response that we can give is the dialogue between the different experiences and the humility to provide our collaboration without any importance "ibid. not. 7).

The free and voluntary commitment of many people from various professions – dermatology, internal medicine, neurology and radiology, among others; more than five thousand doctors, nurses, biologists, coordinators and technicians– that for years, thanks to telemedicine, they have given themselves the mission to train local operators, they have in themselves a huge human and evangelical value.

At the same time, it is surprising to see how this listening of the most fragile, the poor, the sick brings us into contact with another part of the fragile world: I think of the "symptoms of illness that we notice on the ground, in the water, in the air and among living beings, which is why, among the most abandoned and abused poor, is our oppressed and devastated land, which "groans and suffers from the pains of workforce" (rm 8.22) "(Letter enc. Laudato si ', 2). As in these makonde art sculptures – the calls Ujamaa ("Extended Family", in Swahili or "Tree of Life") with several interrelated characters where union and solidarity prevail over the individual – we must realize that we are all part of the same trunk.

You have been able to perceive it and this listening has led you to look for sustainable ways to seek energy, as well as to collect and reserve water. its low environmental impact options are a virtuous model, an example to follow in the face of the urgency of the deterioration of the planet.

The text of the good Samaritan concludes by leaving the victim at "the inn", giving him some of the pay and promising him the rest on his return. Women like Cacilda, and like the 100,000 or so children who can write a new HIV / AIDS free story page, as well as many other anonymous people who smile today because they were healed with dignity, are part of the remunerations that the Lord has left them: gifts of presence that, emerging from the nightmare of illness, without hiding their condition, transmit hope to many people, spread that "I dream" to so many people who have need to be picked up by the side of the road.

The other part will be paid by the Lord "when he comes back", and it must fill you with joyWhen we leave, when they return to the daily task, when no one applauds them or considers them, they continue to receive those who arrive, go to get them injured and defeated in the peripheries. Let us not forget that their names, written in heaven, have an inscription next to them: they are the blessed of my Father. Renew your efforts and let hope continue to "stop" here.

May God bless you, dear sick people and your family, and all those who badist you with a lot of love and encourage you to continue.