Welcoming a child opens new world of joy, pope tells health workers

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Health care professionals who help expectant mothers have a vocation that is an ode to life, Pope Francis said.

And for people of faith, prayer is also "a hidden but effective medicine," he said, "because it heals the soul."

The pope met a group of obstetricians, gynecologists and other health care professionals from the southern Italian region of Calabria during an audience at the Vatican Feb. 6.

"Yours is a beautiful profession, a vocation and a hymn to life, all the more important at this moment in history" when the low birthrates in Italy and other countries seem to indicate people "have lost enthusiasm for motherhood and fatherhood."

Parenthood is seen "as a source of difficulties and problems, rather than as the opening of a new horizon of creativity and happiness. And this -- we know -- depends a lot on the social and cultural context," he told the group.

The pope praised their efforts as members of a professional association whose goals include reversing the falling birthrate.

He encouraged them to continue to grow in their profession, saying that improving their expertise was the best way to practice charity when accompanying expectant mothers "or dealing with critical and painful situations. In all these cases, the presence of trained professionals gives serenity and, in the most serious situations, can save lives."

Professionals working in this field also need to nurture great "human sensitivity," he said. With the birth of a son or daughter, "one may feel vulnerable, fragile and, therefore, in great need of closeness, tenderness and warmth."

It helps so much, he said, "to have sensitive and gentle people" by one's side.

And, he said, for Catholic healthcare professionals, prayer is a kind of medicine they should always keep at their disposal.

"Sometimes it will be possible to share (prayer) with patients; in other circumstances, it can be offered to God discreetly and humbly, in one's own heart, respecting everyone's beliefs and journey," he said.

"I encourage you to feel the responsibility toward the mothers, fathers and children whom God places in your path, to pray for them as well, especially at Mass, Eucharistic adoration and in one's simple, daily prayer," he said.