Experts Discuss Challenges to Health Care

By Irene Lagan
Herald Staff Writer
(From the issue of 2/13/03)

Catholic health care facilities "should be centers of life and hope which promote — together with chaplaincies — ethics committees, training programs for lay health workers, personal and compassionate care of the sick, attention to the needs of their families and a particular sensitivity to the poor and the marginalized. Professional work should be done in a genuine witness to charity, bearing in mind that life is a gift from God, and man merely its steward and guardian," Pope John Paul II said in his message for the 11th World Day of the Sick.

His message, issued on Feb. 4 in Washington, set the tone for a series of events held from Feb. 9-11, culminating in a Mass with the anointing of the sick at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception on the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes.

Pope John Paul II instituted the World Day of the Sick with a pontifical letter on May 13, 1992, to designate a "special time of prayer and sharing, of offering one’s suffering for the good of the Church and of reminding everyone to see in his sick brother or sister the face of Christ." In addition, the purpose of the day, which is celebrated annually on Feb. 11, is to recognize those in the health care ministry, to provide an opportunity for reflection on Church teaching on health care, and to pray for those who are sick.

For the past 10 years, the World Day of the Sick, sponsored by the Vatican Council for Health Pastoral Care, has been celebrated in various regions throughout the world. This year it was held for the first time in the United States, hosted by the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C., to give bishops and Catholic health care professionals from the Americas and the Vatican an opportunity to discuss issues affecting Catholic health care in the Americas.

The three-day event included a private dialogue among bishops from the Americas at the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops (USCCB) headquarters on Feb. 9 and a study day for all registered participants at the Pope John Paul II Cultural Center on Feb. 10.

Following a welcome by Bishop Wilton D. Gregory, president of the USCCB, and an introduction by Bishop Robert C. Morlino, chair of the USCCB Committee on Health Care, Bishop John H. Ricard, SSJ, of the Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee, gave the keynote address for the morning session.

His address, titled "The Call to Justice, Globalization, and Catholic Health Care in the Americas," homed in on the challenges to health care in the context of "increasing globalization" and a market driven economy.

Beginning with the foundations of Catholic health care, and the vision that a Catholic world view brings to bear on health care ministry, the bishop outlined both the positive and negative effects of globalization.

"Through the eyes of faith, we see health care as a ministry not an industry; a service, not a commodity; a right, not a privilege. The market can help provide and allocate health care, but is an inadequate guarantor of health care for all as Pope John Paul II pointed out in Centisimus Annos," he said.

"Our vision of health care begins with the life and dignity of every human person. As a pastor in the United States, I marvel at the innovation, research and progress which fuels medical advances in so many areas."

"However, I fear that in the north, we may sometimes export more than life-giving knowledge, technology and drugs — the best of our health care. I fear that we can also export the works of our culture — a disrespect for human life, and a belief that some lives are more valuable than others, a sense that abortion can solve human problems, assisted suicide and euthanasia are legitimate responses to the burdens of age and illness, and that human life can be manipulated for profit," he added.

The bishop said that the Catholic presence in health care "should be a powerful restraint on forces which see human life as a commodity."

According to Bishop Ricard and several panelists, one of the greatest challenges to health care in a market-driven economy is access to health care. "The working poor do not have access to health care for their children, for catastrophic illnesses and even for simple things such as dental care," the bishop said. While there is no simple solution, the bishop said that continuing advocacy efforts on behalf of the poor is essential.

Among the panelists were a range of representatives from various countries in the Americas, including Dr. Christian Aedo, professor of economics at Hurtado University in Santiago, Chile; Dr. Cristian Baeza, senior health systems specialist at the Iternational Labor Organization in Washington, D.C.; Father Ronald A. Mercier, dean of Regis College, Toronto School of Theology in Ontario; and Sister Patircia A. Smith, vice president of the Sisters of Mercy, Regional Community of Baltimore.

While each panelist addressed the particular obstacles to health care in various regions, all agreed that access to care, advocacy and maintaining a Catholic vision of health care were significant challenges that must continue to be addressed and discussed both on the level of policy and in practice.

During the afternoon session, conference presenters discussed bioethical challenges to the Church. Keynote speaker Bishop John C. Nienstadt, of the Diocese of New Ulm and a member of the USCCB Committee on Health Care, emphasized the Church’s consistent teaching on the value and dignity of life in the face of persistent question of "man’s identity."

"While the possibilities in the field of biotechnology grow, the message of the Church reflects essentially the teaching of Jesus, in that ‘man’s dignity transcends his biological condition’ and man must always remain ‘the master, not the product, of his technology.’ In light of these principles, the Church appeals to man’s reason and reason carries an authority of its own," he said.

A panel of experts in the field of bioethics offered reflections and fielded questions from participants. Among the panel were Father Russel E. Smith of the Diocese of Richmond; Jesuit Father Kevin T. Fitzgerald of Georgetown University Center for Clinical Bioethics; Dr. M. Therese Lysaught of the University of Dayton in Ohio; and Dr. Edmund C. Pellegrino of Georgetown University Center for Clinical Bioethics.

Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick of Washington celebrated a closing liturgy, expressing his gratitude to those who participated in the discussions throughout the day.

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