Vatican City - On Sunday, Pope Francis gave a sermon during a mass decrying those people who are in pursuit of having a perfect body. He went on to say that obsessing to have a perfect body if offensive to those who are disabled.
The mass was held in St. Peter's Square. There, The Pope dedicated the Sunday mass to those who are affected with disability. Disabled individuals and their caregivers who went to the mass were seen, chatting, hugging and spending time together after the mass.
According to The Big Story, Pope Francis in his homily addressed the congregation saying, "It is thought that sick or disabled persons cannot be happy, since they cannot live the lifestyle held up by the culture of pleasure and entertainment." He added, "In an age when care for one's body has become an obsession and a big business, anything that is imperfect has to be hidden away, since it threatens the happiness and serenity of the privileged few and endangers the dominant model."
A part of the congregation was one blind woman who uses braille, she was assigned to do a reading from the Bible. The liturgy she read was translated in sign language by an interpreter. Another wonderful thing about the mass is that, people who had mental disability were given the chance to participate as actors. They wore costumes and acted out the parable that was being read in the podium.
The pope taught that the world does not become beautiful just because those who are deemed perfect, or made over individuals are in it. He is encouraging, social acceptance from amongst all of us. He wants us all to respect one another not matter what our stance in life is. Especially that the able bodies be respectful of the disabled.
According to the article in The Mighty, the pope went on saying that discriminating people with disability is "one of the ugliest thing we can do." Here is his full speech:
