Sometimes a little “reality check” is a good thing for
all of us. It can be profitable to
reflect on the very different conditions that exist in other parts of our
world. The missionary Church has a long
tradition of service to persons with leprosy, also known as Hansen’s disease.
Often abandoned, those suffering from this illness receive medical care and
rehabilitation at church-run facilities throughout the Missions. Above all,
however, they are offered the love and hope of Jesus Christ by those who care
for them.
Today, the Catholic Church runs 547 leprosy centers in the
world, most of them in Asia. One of these centers is located in Thai Binh, a
village about 200 miles north of Hanoi in Vietnam. The Van Mon Dermatological
Hospital is run by a local priest, Father Martin Mai, in collaboration with
Franciscan missionaries.
Many of the residents of Van Mon contracted leprosy when
they were children and were taken to the center where they have spent their
entire life with no contact from their families. But they have found a new
mission family – the seminarians and student friars who visit and spend time
working in the hospital, a presence of the Lord’s own loving heart. These Catholic
pastoral visitors also call on families in the nearby village, teaching the
children, working in the gardens, celebrating Mass and walking with the poor in
their daily lives.
Your
contributions to The Pontifical Society for the Propagation of the Faith enable
our missionaries to bring the love of God to those who would otherwise be
neglected, and to help them understand that “beauty is more than skin deep.”
-Rev. Rodney J. Copp, JCL
-Rev. Rodney J. Copp, JCL
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