Posted on 09/20/2013 5:15:46 AM PDT by markomalley
Pope Francis on Friday received members of the International Federation of Catholic Medical Associations who are in Rome on the occasion of their 10 th International Conference on Catholicism and Maternal Healthcare.
Following a greeting to conference participants, Pope Francis went on to address those gathered in three succinct points.
Firstly, he described what he called the paradoxical situation facing the medical profession today. On the one hand, the Pope said we see the progress of medicine, and those dedicated to the search for new cures.
But, on the other hand, he noted, there is the danger that a doctor might lose his identity as a servant of life. Pope Francis explained, that “if you lose the personal and social sensitivity towards the acceptance of a new life, then other forms of acceptance that are valuable for society also wither away.” He continued by saying that the acceptance of life strengthens moral fiber, before adding that the final objective of the doctor is always the defense and promotion of life.
In his second point, the Holy Father underlined that "the first right of the human person is his life”. He spoke of a “culture of waste”, which he said, now enslaves the hearts and minds of many. The cost of this, he continued, is the elimination of human beings, especially if they are physically or socially weaker. The Pope stressed that every child that is not born, but unjustly condemned to be aborted and very elderly person who is sick or at the end of his life bears the face of Christ.
The Pope also underlined the important role Gynecologists have which requires study, a conscience and humanity.
In his third and final point the Holy Father said the mandate of Catholic doctors is “to be witnesses and promoters of the "culture of life". The Lord, he said is counting on you to spread the
Pope Francis concluded his remarks by saying, “there is no human life more sacred than another, as there is no human life more significant than another. The credibility of a health care system is measured not only for its efficiency, but also for the attention and love towards people, whose life is always sacred.
I wonder if this will make the front page of the papers? /sarc
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Don’t hold your breath. ;-/
Nurses, doctors, etc. can spread faith constantly to their bedridden audiences.
And if they have ethics, they protect life too.
How might they do this? I mean what practical steps can they take? Will these nurses and doctors talk about their own faith or faith in general? Or perhaps cite Bible verses or what? Will they seek the permission of their bedridden patients to be made an audience? Just curious as to how this would happen.
Have you ever seen a nurse just sit quietly with a patient and listen? I have. Have you ever felt the kindness of a doctor during surgery? I have.
You don’t have to proselytize to evangelize. It can be done quietly through the way a professional acts.
I wonder if this will make the front page of the papers?
Thing is, his words are really not relevant to non-catholics. My wife used to be a devout Catholic. All of her siblings and her parents still are to the point that one of her sisters goes to mass every day.
They don’t really grasp that to the rest of the Christian world, what the Pope says about a subject is seen as what the leader of another religion besides yours says. And to the core of their being they don’t respect the pope as anything more than a mere man as themselves.
It means the only time they are all that interested is when he says something controversial.
i.e. it’s not newsworthy.
I was recalling a recent thread featuring a fellow named Stephen Hahn and his comments on evangelizing. I rather felt he was suggesting a proactive approach and that seemed to be the tenor of the Pope’s comments too....to speak out and not just be a passive model.
I really hope to feel nothing at all during surgery.
Do you mean Scott Hahn?
Yes, in the hospital environment, what I suggested could be construed as “active.”
We are all asked to evangelize. We Cahtolics are taking lessons from the non-Catholics in this instance.
Yes, Scott, that’s it.
I take it then that Catholics are not going to be asked to go knocking on doors.
It will be interesting to see how the laity responds to the calls to evangelize and for how long.
They'll get tired of the phrase soon enough and find another way to poke non-Catholics in the eye.
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