Pain does not last forever - Arnaldo Pangrazzi

The meeting of the world-famous professor of the Camillianum International Theological Institute, Arnaldo Pangrazzi, with priests of various denominations, doctors, and psychologists became a unique event, because it demonstrated a large number of common issues that unite different churches in serving people.

During the lecture, representatives of churches from all regions of Ukraine were told how the church can help a person get out of a state of grief:

• priest escorting servicemen in war;
• escorting patients of various severity in hospitals;
• accompanying the families of those who returned from the war and those who lost loved ones in the war or due to an incurable disease.

As Arnaldo Pangrazzi noted, the military conflict in Ukraine has serious consequences for society, for people, and for individuals. Those who returned from the war cannot live peacefully, because they have lost friends, they have gone through the fear of death. After returning from the front, former servicemen are often accompanied by dissatisfaction, anger, alcohol and family problems. The Church must prevent divorces or help families if divorces become inevitable.

During the lecture, Professor Pangrazzi touched on the concept of "suffering" and emphasized: "Pain does not last forever!". It is impossible to live without suffering, despite the fact that Christianity calls a person to be happy from birth to death. Sometimes a person is unable to accept suffering, so they start using alcohol or drugs, so pain can make a person better, but sometimes it can make a person worse. "Pain takes away everything superficial from life, but sometimes pain demoralizes a person," the speaker noted.

The professor devoted part of his speech to advice on patient visits and emphasized that it is important to answer the following questions before the visit:

• Why am I present next to a person who is suffering?
• Who am I - a doctor or a chaplain?
• What are we talking about?
• How do we talk to the patient?
• When is the best time to visit a patient?

Motivation is what drives a doctor or chaplain to communicate. "One must be able to see the face of Christ in the patient and one must be Christ for the suffering person," Pangrazzi believes. At the same time, in his opinion, one must have courage to visit a dying person, and priests should become medicine for the sick. "Faith does not protect against pain, but gives strength to face it," Arnaldo Pangrazio emphasized, adding that "the project of palliative care is the best project invented by humanity in the last 50 years."

Vasyl Knyazevich, the head of the board of the "Ukrainian League for the Development of Palliative and Hospice Care" in his closing speech, noted that it is extremely important that, in addition to representatives of the clergy, the conference was attended by doctors and psychologists from every palliative department and hospice of Ukraine. "This will give everyone an opportunity to understand the place of spiritual care in palliative care, to correctly form the goal and task of accompanying a palliative patient by a multidisciplinary team. By creating full-fledged palliative care for everyone who needs it, we will create a new culture in society, where sacrifice and service will bring the nation and the country to a worthy level," said Knyazevich.