VATICAN CITY — Close to 100 financiers, philanthropists, artists,
tech experts, physicians, politicians and religious leaders spent more than an
hour in a Vatican meeting room talking about tenderness. A project called
"Humanity 2.0," supported by the Vatican Dicastery for Promoting
Integral Human Development, designed the daylong event April 20 to kick off a
process of connecting people with different resources, but who all are
committed to improving the lives of others.
During the meeting, the discussions moved from the concept of
tenderness to ways tenderness becomes action and to a multisession discussion
about the worrying state of maternal and prenatal medical care and ways to
address it.
"Healthier mothers are an investment in the health and
well-being of our communities and our world," Marie-Louise Coleiro,
president of Malta, told the gathering. She particularly challenged Humanity
2.0 participants to brainstorm concrete ways to improve holistic care —
medical, psychological and spiritual — for pregnant women and new mothers who
are migrants or refugees.
"The challenge is to translate our love for humanity into
real service to our brothers and sisters," said Jesuit Father Michael
Czerny, undersecretary of the Vatican office for migrants and refugees. "We
cannot claim to have or promote 'integral human development' if we leave some
people out."
© Arlington Catholic Herald 2018