barriers or walls behind which we can hide to protect ourselves from the
effects
of environmental and social degradation. There is no room for the globalisation
of indifference, the economy of exclusion or the throwaway culture so often
denounced by Pope Francis.Of course, the path is not easy, since this ethical
and moral responsibility calls into question the resetting of the development
model, requiring a major political and economic commitment. However, as I said
to the UN Climate Summit on 23 September 2014, 'the technological and
operational bases needed to facilitate this mutual responsibility are already
available or within our reach. We have the capacity to start and strengthen a
true and beneficial process which will irrigate, as it were, through adaptation
and mitigation activities, the field of economic and technological innovation
where it is possible to cultivate two interconnected objectives: combating
poverty and easing the effects of climate change'".
 Cardinal Parolin concluded by conveying Pope Francis' best wishes to the
participants, and his hope that "the discussions and reflections of this
Conference may contribute to further and deepen reflection on the meaning of
the
economy and its goals, as well as to finding ways to guarantee access to a
truly
integral human development for all, especially the poor and the future
generations".

___________________________________________________________

 The Holy See at the 68th Assembly of the World Health Organisation
 Vatican City, 20 May 2015 (VIS) - Archbishop Zygmunt Zimowski, president of
the
Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Health Care Workers and head of the
Holy See delegation at the 68th Assembly of the World Health Organisation, held
in Geneva from 18 to 26 May, participated in the debate on the Ebola virus
epidemic which has claimed 9,380 lives out of a total of more than 23,000 cases
of contagion throughout the world, mainly in West Africa.
 "The Holy See delegation wishes to note the importance and the timeliness of
the theme for the general discussion", said the archbishop. "The recent Ebola
outbreak was a human and public health tragedy, which, among others, showed
that
the need to build resilient health systems cannot be over emphasised, as they
are essential for the provision of universal health coverage and for a prompt
response to outbreaks of disease".
 "Unfortunately, most low income countries, which are still afflicted by
infectious disease and epidemics, have very poor health systems that need
urgent
intervention, if they are to respond to the health needs of the whole
population. ... This requires long-term commitment from national governments
and
international donors to support resilient health systems and to ensure
universal
coverage of health services, thus strengthening the capacity of national health
systems to deliver equitable and quality health-care services, and also
stepping
up their ability to respond to outbreaks and to improve community ownership and
participation. This means short and long-term investment in a number of key
elements of the health system; particularly, improved primary health care, an
adequate number of trained health workers, availability of medicine,
appropriate
infrastructure, update statistical data, sufficient public financing,
public-private partnership and scaling up the number of well-equipped health
posts and district hospitals. It is also a challenge to donors to make a shift
from short-term program funding to long-term comprehensive health service
financing".
 "The recent report on Global evidence on inequities in rural health
protection,
by the International Labour Office, revealed that more than half of the
population in rural areas worldwide does not have access to basic healthcare,
with many of them at risk of impoverishment or deepened poverty due to out of
pocket payment for services. This is clear evidence that, in 2015, we are still
a long way from universal coverage. For various reasons, there are strong
inequalities in access to healthcare between the rural and urban areas, with
the
latter often more advantaged than the former which are most deprived. Embracing
the recommendation of the report, my delegation wishes to note the urgent need
to address this rural urban divide in the post-2015 Development Agenda, bearing
in mind that "human life is always sacred and always has ‘quality'".
 "In many countries, the Catholic Church is privileged to be one of the primary
partners of the State in providing much needed health care services to
populations in remote areas, through its over 110,000 health and social-welfare
institutions around the world", he concluded. "It is therefore important to
offer them the necessary collaboration and support so as to enable them to
bring
the services close and to render them accessible to poor people in particular.
Indeed, in many low-income countries, the contribution of civil society and
communities to health services delivery is fundamental".

___________________________________________________________

 Other Pontifical Acts
 Vatican City, 20 May 2015 (VIS) - The Holy Father has:
 - accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the diocese of Alto
Solimoes, Brazil, presented by Bishop Evangelista Alcimar Caldas Magalhaes,
O.F.M. Cap., upon reaching the age limit. He is succeeded by Bishop Adolfo Zon
Pereira, S.X., coadjutor of the same diocese.
 - appointed Fr. Paulo Jackson Nobrego de Sousa as bishop of Garanhuns (area
8,734, population 677,000, Catholics 609,000, priests 60, permanent deacons 7,
religious 94), France. The bishop-elect was born in Sao Jose de Espinharas,
Brazil in 1969 and was ordained a priest in 1993. He holds a licentiate in
Biblical Sciences from the Pontifical Biblical Institute, Rome, and a doctorate
in biblical theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome. He has
served in a number of pastoral roles in the diocese of Patos, Brazil, including
parish administrator, parish vicar, rector of the diocesan seminary, formator
of
major seminarians at the archdiocesan seminary of Joao Pessoa, diocesan
pastoral
coordinator, and parish priest. He has also served as national secretary of the
Organisation of Seminaries and Philosophical and Theological Institutes of
Brazil. He is currently professor of sacred scripture at the Pontifical
Catholic
University of Minas Gerais, parish priest of the "Senhor Bom Jesus do Horto"
parish in Belo Horizonte, and formator of seminarians in Patos.
 - appointed Bishop Laurent Dognin, auxiliary of Bordeaux, France, as bishop of
Quimper (area 6,785, population 899,870, Catholics 733,000, priests 271,
permanent deacons 33, religious 582), France.
 - appointed Bishop Pedro Cunha Cruz, auxiliary of the archdiocese of Sao
Sebastiao do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, as coadjutor of the diocese of Campanha
(area 15,420, population 780,000, Catholics 762,000, priests 116, religious
181), Brazil.
 - accepted the resignation from the office of auxiliary of the archdiocese of
Hamburg, Germany, presented by Bishop Norbert Werbs upon reaching the age
limit.

___________________________________________________________

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