- Feb 5, 2002
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(OSV News) — The age-old curse of leprosy can be finally wiped out if Church leaders join others worldwide in a greater commitment against it, according to a veteran Polish Catholic doctor and missionary.
“Here in India, there’ve been fewer cases recently and a reduced social fear of infection — it’s my greatest hope we’ll eliminate leprosy once and for all in the not too distant future,” said Helena Pyz, a medical doctor and lay missionary who for 35 years has helped those suffering from leprosy, or “Hansen’s disease.”
“Yet while there are places where victims can count on Catholic Church help, there’s little knowledge or awareness of leprosy among ordinary Catholics — just the occasional media article or parish information campaign,” Pyz said.
The 75-year-old lay Catholic spoke from her center at Raipur, India’s oldest rehabilitation facility, as charities and aid organizations marked World Leprosy Day Jan. 28.
The doctor’s own life was not easy. As a 10-year-old, she suffered from polio, and since then had trouble walking and had to use a wheelchair. Due to her operations, she had to take a break from school several times. Fascinated by Jasna Góra, the famous Polish sanctuary of Our Lady of Czestochowa, Pyz — in her own account — understood during one of many pilgrimages to the shrine that God was inviting her to dedicate her medical vocation to him. She professed her vows as a member of Poland’s lay Primate Wyszynski Institute.
Continued below.
www.oursundayvisitor.com
“Here in India, there’ve been fewer cases recently and a reduced social fear of infection — it’s my greatest hope we’ll eliminate leprosy once and for all in the not too distant future,” said Helena Pyz, a medical doctor and lay missionary who for 35 years has helped those suffering from leprosy, or “Hansen’s disease.”
“Yet while there are places where victims can count on Catholic Church help, there’s little knowledge or awareness of leprosy among ordinary Catholics — just the occasional media article or parish information campaign,” Pyz said.
The 75-year-old lay Catholic spoke from her center at Raipur, India’s oldest rehabilitation facility, as charities and aid organizations marked World Leprosy Day Jan. 28.
The doctor’s own life was not easy. As a 10-year-old, she suffered from polio, and since then had trouble walking and had to use a wheelchair. Due to her operations, she had to take a break from school several times. Fascinated by Jasna Góra, the famous Polish sanctuary of Our Lady of Czestochowa, Pyz — in her own account — understood during one of many pilgrimages to the shrine that God was inviting her to dedicate her medical vocation to him. She professed her vows as a member of Poland’s lay Primate Wyszynski Institute.
Continued below.
The Catholic Church can help rid the world of leprosy
For World Leprosy Day Jan. 28, OSV News interviews a Polish Catholic doctor and lay missionary who left for India decades ago and dedicated her life to people suffering from leprosy.
www.oursundayvisitor.com
