I Have Private Audience with Pope Francis, Encouraged to Continue Fight Against Leprosy (1)
Private audience with His Holiness Pope Francis at the Apostolic Palace on January 26, 2023, in Vatican City, Vatican.
In my capacity as WHO Goodwill Ambassador for Leprosy Elimination and chairman of The Nippon Foundation, I was received by His Holiness Pope Francis at the Vatican on January 26.
During the private audience at the Apostolic Palace in Vatican City, I expressed my life-long commitment to achieving a world without leprosy, also known as Hansen’s disease, and the stigma and discrimination associated with it.
“With the help of Your Holiness, I would like to work to eliminate leprosy from the world, improve the lives of those it affects, and resolve this as a human rights issue,” I told him.
In response, Pope Francis, the spiritual leader of 1.3 billion Catholics across the world, expressed his gratitude for my work as WHO Goodwill Ambassador for Leprosy Elimination, stating: “It is important and encouraging that the disease is curable.”
I told him there are many persons affected by leprosy in Catholic countries in South America, especially Brazil, saying: “I will continue to be active in South America.”
His Holiness said the fight against leprosy continues in his native country, Argentina, adding: “We, the Catholic Church, are working with passion and spirit.”
With the introduction of multidrug therapy from the 1980s, some 16 million people have been cured of leprosy, I noted, adding: “It is also true that there are still hidden cases.”
The pope encouraged me to “actively seek them out.”
I pledged to work to reduce the number of leprosy patients to zero in Argentina as well as other countries in the world, expressing my hope to report back to him again in the future.
“The door is always open,” he responded.
The audience followed the International Symposium on Hansen’s Disease “Leave No One Behind,” held at the Vatican on January 23-24. It was co-hosted by the Sasakawa Leprosy (Hansen's Disease) Initiative (SLI), French Raoul Follereau Fondation, and Italian Association Amici di Raoul Follereau in collaboration with the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development of the Holy See.
SLI is a strategic alliance between the WHO Goodwill Ambassador for Leprosy Elimination, The Nippon Foundation and the Sasakawa Health Foundation for achieving a world without leprosy and stigma and discrimination associated with the disease.
Pope Francis sent a message to participants on the opening day, thanking them for their commitment and saying: "We must not ignore this disease, which unfortunately still afflicts many people, especially in the most disadvantaged social contexts." He also noted that the stigma attached to leprosy continues to cause serious human rights violations in various parts of the world.
The pope added that the 70th World Leprosy Day, celebrated on January 29 this year, was "a fitting occasion to try to renew our commitment to building an inclusive society, that leaves no one at the margins."
Basing his appeal on “the human family’s vocation to fraternity,” he called on everyone to ask, “Will we bend down to heal the wounds of others? Will we stoop to carry one another on our shoulders?”
(To be continued)