In his message to the Second International Symposium on Hansen’s Disease, which was held January 23–24, 2023, Pope Francis reflected on the fact that, despite our claims of being more just than previous societies, we are no better equipped than were they to ensure the fundamental human rights of those who are marginalized. For our all knowledge of disease mechanisms, we still are as likely as were our ancestors to recoil from persons as if they were their disease. This revulsion seeps into other areas of life, pushing people to take drastic steps to avoid crises whose roots can be traced to the stigma created by the selfishness and injustice of others.

Francis offers his first pointed insight with the admonition to remember the person in the sickness. Since ancient times, leprosy has caused terrible stigma. It is, as Francis implies, nearly impossible today to hear the word leprosyand not recoil from the mere thought of the leper. Citing Fratelli tutti, he explains that this is a stark reminder that “we are still ‘illiterate’ when it comes to accompanying, caring for and supporting the most frail and vulnerable members of our developed societies.” In other words, we too often confuse the person for his or her sickness.

In his second pointed insight, Francis suggests that a proper response to the sick person will seek to fundamentally change our institutions. Specifically, he argues that we must “denounce and try to correct the discrimination [our models of development] cause.” Although he does not include examples, one could be the incorporation of workplace policies that help employees manage illness without risk of losing their job, such as leniency with sick days. Workers often neglect their health to ensure their job. Identifying discrimination, however necessary, cannot be lasting or robust unless we “revise our models of development.” Toward that end, “denunciation must always be accompanied by a proposal,” which must ask and address penetrating questions: How can we inspire due recognition of the sick? How can we then build that inspiration into our institutions?

Those who suffer from leprosy, Francis notes, are “the key protagonists in the struggle to participate in fundamental human rights.” Certainly, he speaks about a disease with complex historical stigma, but one could easily substitute any other disease in place of leprosy, and the profound meaning of this statement would remain firm. Moreover, the Pope’s message speaks beyond pathology and touches upon something existential about the human condition—namely, the stigmas humans create and heap upon one another. His message applies fittingly, for example, to the ongoing problem of abortion and women’s rights. Pregnancy really can carry its own stigma. Tragically, irresponsible capitalistic practices confuse many women into seeing the burdens of pregnancy as the burdens of disease, resulting in in a perceived need for a right to abortion. How many workplaces frown upon pregnancy? Certainly, if everyone could get pregnant, there would not be this problem, which shows the extent of the moral infection in our institutions. Hence, it is morally necessary to call out the right to abortion as dangerous and false. However, denouncing it—following Francis’s advice—must be accompanied by a proposal to change the social pressures that wrongly compel women into believing they need a right to abortion.

Whether sick or not, all those who are burdened must be treated as human beings. Moreover, they must be recognized “as the key protagonists in their struggle to participate in fundamental human rights and to live as fully-fledged members of the community.”

Colten Maertens-Pizzo works for the Archdiocese of Chicago Catholic School System.

Pope’s Message on Leprosy Extends beyond Pathology