Meeting with Lepers in Salvador da Bahia (7 July 1980)

On 7 July 1980, the Holy Father met with the lepers of Salvador da Bahia, urging them to offer their sufferings, in collaboration with Christ, for the redemption of mankind.

Dear sons and daughters,

1. Your presence awakens in my soul a special feeling, something of that emotion and affection that our Lord Jesus Christ felt, during his ministry of public life, for the sick who flocked from all parts to hear his word of salvation and be cured of their infirmities.

Among the many episodes of healing narrated by the four Evangelists you will certainly remember what Saint Luke describes: the sick man who, with his face on the ground, begged him: "Lord, if you want, you can heal me". Jesus stretched out his hand; he touched him and said to him: “I want it, be healed!”. And all the signs of the disease disappeared (cf. Lk 5:12-13).

The humble Vicar of Christ is among you today with the same intensity of affection with which the divine Teacher welcomed and blessed the crowds and, in a special way, the people afflicted by the infirmity which also afflicts you.

2. Many comment that the external purification of the body was the symbol of an internal transformation: the rebirth of a purity, a trust, a courage that comes from above. The Pope would like his contact with you to bring these invaluable inner feelings. He exhorts you not to let fear or lack of trust get you down. Not to give in to the temptation of isolation. To combine faith in medical progress with an attitude of constant and trusting prayer.

3. In the name of that same Jesus whom I represent before you today, I also exhort you to make good use of and value the suffering that you bear imprinted in your body and in your spirit. Always remember that pain is never in vain, never useless. Indeed, precisely at the moment in which it wounds your existence, limiting it in its human affirmation, if it is elevated to a supernatural dimension it can sublimate and redeem this existence for a higher destiny, which crosses the threshold of the personal situation to draw upon the whole of society, thus in need of those who know how to suffer and offer themselves for its redemption.

If you apply to your intentions these great intentions, which go beyond the purely human level, you will collaborate with Christ in the plan of salvation and you will be able to spread around you wonderful examples of moral strength, which only those who suffer with this faith in their soul can communicate to others.

4. I am very confident in your memory, in your help and in your prayers, not only for the success of this apostolic journey to Brazil, but also for all the solicitudes that I carry in my heart as pastor of the universal Church.

With these thoughts, greeting you kindly and expressing my high appreciation for those who care for you and assist you, I entrust you to the maternal protection of the Blessed Virgin, of whom I know you are very devoted, and I wholeheartedly grant you the Apostolic Blessing .

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