POPE Benedict has chosen Adelaide to host next year’s World Day of the Sick.
The event is expected to attract hundreds of religious leaders and health experts from across the globe.
Adelaide will host the international event on February 11
It will include three days of events centred on health care and human dignity.
Archbishop Philip Wilson of Adelaide said a special emissary, yet to be chosen by Pope Benedict XVI, would deliver the pontiff’s World Day of the Sick message.
‘We are delighted to be hosting the 2006 World Day of the Sick, which will bring health and dignity deserved by the sick and dying to the forefront of the global community’s conscience,’Archbishop Wilson said.
‘Health issues, such as mental health and aged care, are affecting all countries and our response to the care of those in need is a good indicator of a compassionate society.’
The first World Day of the Sick was celebrated in Lourdes, France in 1993.
It takes place on February 11 in a different country each year to celebrate the feast day of Our Lady of Lourdes, whose shrine in France has become a focal point of human suffering.
In 2001, Sydney hosted the event with more than 3000 people attending a special Mass for the sick in St Mary’s Cathedral.
