"Organ and tissue transplantations are a great achievement of medical science and are certainly a sign of hope for many people in serious clinical conditions and sometimes in danger of life": it was pointed out by the Pope today, while he received in hearing the participants in the International Congress on Organ Donation. "At a time like this, often marked by different kinds of selfishness", according to the Pope, "it is more and more urgent to accept the principle of gratuitousness". Moreover, the Pope mentioned "the great progress" made by medicine "to secure a more and more dignified life to every suffering person", and "the numerous and complex cases in which many people have overcome highly critical phases in their lives. Thanks to the organ transplantation technique, they were given another chance to live their lives in joy". "This could never have happened if committed physicians and competent researchers had not had the opportunity to rely on the generosity and altruism of the people who donated their organs", said the Holy Father. He mentioned the problem of the availability of vital organs for transplantation, saying that it is "not a theoretical problem, but a dramatically practical problem". This is "confirmed by long waiting lists for many patients, whose only chances of survival are connected with the scant offers, which do not correspond to objective needs". (To be continued) ” “
