We must all be “facilitators of hope,” said the bishop of Angra this afternoon when speaking about Hope at the First Hospitable Day of Pastoral Care, which took place in Angra, at the Casa de Saúde do Divino Espírito Santo, over the last two days.

“More than communicators or teachers of hope, we must be its facilitators, so that we can touch lives,” said D. Armando Esteves Domingues at the conference entitled “Merciful Care is a Driver of HOPE.”

“There are so many things in the Church, in society, in institutions that disturb us that if we are not careful, we easily fall into despair and drag ourselves into negativity,” warned the prelate, who stressed that “love is always stronger.”

“Suffering must and has to be fought, but it is not always possible,” added the prelate, who recalled, “this is where the face of God is most clearly expressed.” And the essence of our hope “is a face,” not an idea or a concept.

“If we look at life without the risen Christ, we see only shadows, but with Easter we gain a fundamental right, the right to live always in hope,” he said.

“We must share our hope: share our joy, our serenity, as we do, share Jesus Christ, because hope is not a philosophy of life, it is not an idea, it is not just a virtue… it is a person,” he concluded.

“The risen one must be found in the midst of life, in sacrifices, in hospitals, in hospices, in prisons… this risen Christ is in these places and not closed off,” concluded the prelate, who was seconded at this point by Miguel Tavares, spiritual assistant to the hospice sisters.

Miguel Tavares recalled Pope Francis’ paradigm that the Church must go out to meet those who suffer in order to emphasize the importance of care in healing wounds.

“There are wounds in lives that are open and deserve to be healed, even if they may be heavy, but for which God’s mercy always has special attention,” he said, warning, however, of the danger of “some moralism” that may “be contrary to the Gospel itself, which is Jesus.”

“The Gospel always opens the door to hope, because beyond the good news it always contains justice, and justice rehabilitates and does not condemn or tear down just because,” Miguel Tavares added.

Hope is also the “place for promoting the dignity of human life,” he emphasized, recalling the need for “holistic care” for the sick, which must always be “a path of hope.”

The First Hospital Day, entitled “Merciful Care is a driver of hope,” featured four conferences and a cultural soirée and was organized by the Casa de Saúde do Espírito Santo, founded in 1967.

It is a leading healthcare facility that provides specialized care in psychiatry and mental health, intellectual disability, psychosocial rehabilitation, and physical rehabilitation, as well as specialized outpatient, inpatient, and rehabilitation services.

The Casa de Saúde do Espírito Santo is run by the Hospitaller Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

In Correio dos Açores-Natalino Viveiros, director

Translated to English as a community outreach program from the Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute (PBBI) and the Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures Department (MCLL) as part of Bruma Publication and ADMA (Azores-Diaspora Media Alliance) at California State University, Fresno, PBBI thanks Luso Financial for sponsoring NOVIDADES.