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Physicians gather for annual White Mass, dinner
By Andrew Junker, ajunker@catholicsun.org
December 4, 2008
Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted and about 70 members of the Catholic Physicians Guild gathered for the Nov. 14 White Mass and dinner at the Diocesan Pastoral Center.
“It’s good that we gather here,” the bishop said at the start of Mass. “It’s here we find strength and inspiration for whatever vocation we have.”
And a doctor’s vocation can be especially trying, especially in a culture of death, the bishop said in his homily.
“You make God’s commandment of ‘You shall not kill’ a reality,” Bishop Olmsted said. “Your obedience grates others’ consciences.”
The Catholic Physicians Guild has been meeting for more than three decades and provides fellowship and support for like-minded doctors and medical personnel.
“There’s a lot of ethical challenges with the practice of medicine, particularly with respect to the value of human life and how you respect it — whether it’s at the beginning or at the end of life,” said Dr. William Brophy, president of the guild.
The guild gives doctors “an opportunity to get together and support one another, and to figure out better ways for people to apply the truths of their concrete beliefs,” he said.
As part of that goal, the guild invites guest speakers to address new developments in science or medical procedures fraught with ethical questions.
This year, the group brought Fr. Tadeusz Pacholczyk, director of education for the National Catholic Bioethics Center, to speak about stem cell research.
“We stand on the cusp of a whole new era of regenerative medicine,” Fr. Pacholczyk told attendees after dinner.
He then went on to dispel a host of myths and misconceptions about the Catholic Church and stem cell research. One of the main misconceptions is that the Church is against all stem cell research. In fact, there are many techniques of harvesting stem cells that are not morally dangerous at all.
And many of these techniques — like harvesting stem cells from the umbilical cord after birth — have shown far greater medical promise than embryonic stem cells.
“It was a very clear, well presented explanation on the issue of stem cell research and how it’s a very valuable technology, but it has to be developed within the boundaries of what’s ethically permissible,” Brophy said.
Dr. Marci Moffitt, secretary for the guild, said it’s important for medical personnel to be kept up to date on Church teaching. And while she described the goals of the guild in terms of four F’s — Faith, Formation, Food and Fellowship — formation is paramount for those who field difficult questions from patients every day.
“There’s a huge need for formation so that we can instruct others,” she said. “That’s the real push behind this.”
In the spring, the guild will host a series of talks focusing on spirituality in a busy profession. The presentations will include suggestions for nurturing hope in the dying, the spirituality of the Mass and sustaining prayer in a hectic world.
That last topic rings especially true for medical personnel, who often find every last bit of free time eaten up by their demanding vocation. But prayer is a non-negotiable for a Catholic doctor, Brophy said.
“I would tell [Catholic doctors] to pray, maintain their participation in the Church, the body of Christ, and stay in contact with good Catholic physicians,” he said.
Andrew Junker/CATHOLIC SUN
Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted celebrates the Nov. 14 White Mass at the downtown Diocesan Pastoral Center with
Fr. Carlos Gomez, Fr. Tadeusz Pacholczyk, Fr. Fred Adamson, VG, and others. Deacon Albert Scheller looks on.
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