Nazareth (Agenzia Fides) – The town of Nazareth is preparing to host the World Day of the Sick 2016, an event that will be celebrated in the city of Galilee next Thursday, February 11th. It was Pope Francis who indicated Nazareth as the seat of the day dedicated to the sick, which the Catholic Church usually celebrates every three years, as is the case with World Youth Day and the World Day of the Family. A papal delegation led by Archbishop Zygmunt Zimowski, President of the Pontifical Council for health workers, already arrived in Holy Land on Saturday, February 6. The program of the event includes a series of liturgical celebrations in different cities of the Holy Land – which already started on Sunday, February 7 in Ramallah -, during which the sick present will be administered the sacrament of Anointing of the Sick. Also a symposium is part of the program dedicated to the problems associated with the care of the terminally ill and the ethical issues of the end of life, which will take place on Tuesday, February 9 at the Notre Dame de Jerusalem Centre, and will be attended by international experts.
Ordinary Catholic Bishops issued a statement in which they invite all men and women religious in the Holy Land to take part in the celebrations, especially by encouraging the participation of the sick members of their communities. (GV) (Agenzia Fides 08/02/2016)