Chapter 4 CWB oah rdoi nyl egaPfneodrr sStohoneu: l Uta hnneddHSe urusmftfaaennr di Pni gne gr s o n An authentic understanding of health grows out of a sound anthropology that does not reduce wellness to the health of the body only, but to the human person in his/her integrity and somatic-spiritual unity.11 “Health and human aspects must never be separated,” Pope Benedict XVI stressed. “Every health and care institution, especially if it is animated by a genuine Christian spirit, has the duty to offer the maximum of its competence and humanity,” the Pope noted. “The sick person, especially a child, particularly understands the language of tenderness and love, expressed through patient and generous service, full of care, fostered in believers by the desire to manifest the same predilection that Jesus felt for little ones.”12 This approach to healing where wellness is not restricted to a physical body, but includes a spiritual component as well, is not a concept just rooted in Christian anthropology. The Joint Commission, secular in nature, understands the benefits of this approach. It calls it patient-centered care. 57 © Joseph Romagnano • Our Lady of Fatima, Fatima, Portugal
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