I entrust this Twenty-second World Day of the Sick to the intercession of Mary. I ask her to help the sick to bear their sufferings in fellowship with Jesus Christ and to support all those who care for them. To all the ill, and to all the health-care workers and volunteers who assist them, I cordially impart my Apostolic Blessing.

Every child that isn't born, but is unjustly condemned to be aborted, has the face of Jesus Christ, has the face of the Lord.

There is no worse material poverty than one that does not allow for earning one’s bread and deprives one of the dignity of work. Youth unemployment, informality, and the lack of labor rights are not inevitable; they are the result of a previous social option, of an economic system that puts profit above man; if the profit is economic, to put it above humanity or above man, is the effect of a disposable culture that considers the human being in himself as a consumer good, which can be used and then discarded.

I allow myself to honor the man who fought in moments when he had no strength to impose himself, until he managed to impose himself. [Joseph] Ratzinger. Cardinal Ratzinger deserves applause.

One day we will see our animals again in eternity of Christ. Paradise is open to all God’s creatures.

Proceed calmly in life.

Trade unions have been an essential force for social change, without which a semblance of a decent and humane society is impossible under capitalism.