Bishop Anthony B. Taylor challenged the state’s Catholic hospitals and health practitioners to “reinvigorate the catholicity” of their practices and institutions. Bishop Taylor delivered his remarks in his homily at the inaugural White Mass for Health Care Workers Oct. 3 at the Cathedral of St. Andrew in Little Rock.
“Sometimes I get the impression that the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care are viewed by some as just part of the cost of doing business in the Catholic ‘brand’ of hospital,” the bishop said in his homily. “How can we transform the ERDs into a positive guide for decision making, embraced as one of the blessings of working in this apostolate?"
Bishop Taylor also said Catholic hospitals must live up to their primary role as an apostolate and not simply cave to the pressure of fulfilling a business model. And, he asked the congregation, which included members of the medical profession as well as medical students, not to forsake the vocational side of their chosen profession.
Following the Mass, which is intended to be an annual event honoring doctors, administrators, nurses and other health care workers, John Brehaney, executive director of the Catholic Medical Association, prefaced his prepared remarks on the need for a CMA guild in Arkansas by applauding the bishop’s sentiment. He said the remarks crystallized perfectly the conflicting circumstances many Catholic health care practitioners face, and which the CMA addresses nationwide.
“It’s not enough to care for people,” Brehaney said. “We need something more today; not only caring hands, but the ability to explain what care means, what compassion means, what medicine truly is. We need not only our hands, but our hearts and our minds.”
Brehaney’s visit was the outcome of six months of discussion over the possibility of the state’s Catholic health care professionals forming a guild, or chapter, of the CMA. Diocesan officials were optimistic that initial level of interest has been such that at least one guild in Little Rock and possibly a second one in northwest Arkansas could take shape soon.
Respect life director Marianne Linane, who is also a registered nurse, has been a member of the CMA for eight years and has been instrumental in generating interest in establishing an Arkansas guild. She said the need for such a group has escalated as ethical pressures have mounted on physicians.
“Medical professionals, like life issues, are under assault,” she said. “As states continue to legalize some of the most vile procedures imaginable, physicians are increasingly caught in ethical dilemmas. This is particularly true concerning end-of-life issues such as physician assisted suicide, something we should and will oppose. When we band together, there’s strength in numbers.”
The Pennsylvania-based CMA provides members the tools necessary to uphold the principles of the Catholic Church in the science and practice of medicine. Guilds address needs at the local level, while the national organization provides the tools and educational resources and events to help address ethical matters for members as well as act as a Catholic voice to lawmakers on matters of medical and health care legislation.
The organization has enjoyed surging growth. The number of guilds is expected to top 80 by the close of the year, up from just two in 2000. The CMA added 463 new members in 2012 — 269 of which were physicians — for a total membership of just under 1,700.
While forming a guild requires the membership of at least six current physicians, the evening’s call also resonated with the several medical students who were in the audience. Third-year medical student Nick Tingquist, 24, came straight to the White Mass from his duties at Little Rock’s Veterans Administration hospital. Clad in scrubs and the day’s fatigue etched onto his face, Tingquist said the liturgy had a rejuvenating effect on him and that a support system such as a CMA guild would only enhance that.
“That external support system is something you really need,” said Tingquist, of North Little Rock, who graduated Catholic High School in 2007. “I have found that doctors have been very willing to talk to me about ethical issues and conflicts. But just talking to doctors, you can get jaded. Having a group like this that you know and who knows you on a deeper level is really helpful.”
