Austria: World Day of the Sick, the initiatives of the hospital chaplaincies in Vienna, Innsbruck and Linz
On 11 February the Catholic Church celebrates the thirtieth “World Day of the Sick”. Also in Vienna, Innsbruck and Linz the attention of the faithful is called with appeals from hospital chaplaincies to “be closer to the sick” and with special religious functions. The Viennese Auxiliary Bishop Franz Scharl, for example, invites all those who are mentally or physically ill to participate in a function in St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna. During the mass, people will be able to receive the anointing of the sick or a special blessing for the sick. For Scharl, taking care of the sick is “the task of following Jesus, which makes us all more”. In the territory of the archdiocese of Vienna there are almost 80 full-time priests and 130 volunteers who accompany people to 37 hospitals and almost 40 retirement homes. She conducts pastoral care, provides support in coping with the disease, and gives those affected and their families support and confidence through religious services and the sacraments.
The pandemic diocese of Innsbruck invited chaplains to not only health workers with their concerns during the: “Hospital chaplains are also important contacts for patients, relatives, but also staff”, underlined Hildegard Anegg, head of the hospital chaplaincy of Tirol Kliniken.
On the occasion of 11 February, the diocese of Linz reaffirms the importance of hospital pastoral care: due to the pandemic, the disease has gone from being a crisis situation for individuals to a social question for the whole community: Christiane Roser, consultant for the hospital chaplaincy in the diocese of Linz reiterated that “closeness and human attention are more important than ever for the sick”.