Petty, M. J.

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The Linacre QuarterlyVolume 10 | Number 2 Article 34-1-1942To the Editor of The Linacre QuarterlyM. J. PettyFollow this and additional works at: http://epublications.marquette.edu/lnqPart of the Ethics and Political Philosophy Commons, and the Medicine and Health SciencesCommonsRecommended CitationPetty, M. J. (1942) "To the Editor of The Linacre Quarterly," The Linacre Quarterly: Vol. 10: No. 2, Article 3.Available at: http://epublications.marquette.edu/lnq/vol10/iss2/3I t ' ' THE LINAORE QUARTERLY CATHOLIC PHYSICIANS' GUil-DS OF SOUTH AMERICA Buenos Aires, Argentina, March 5th, 1942. To the Edt~or of THE LIN ACRE QuARTERLY: Dr. Carlos Alberto Castano, president of the Conaorcio de Medi-cos Catolicaa, has handed me your let~er of August 12, 1941, and asks me to answer the last paragraph of same concerning the development of friendly relations between the Catholic physicians of South America and the States. It was jn 1930 that I gathered tqgether a group of young doctors for the purpose of commencing this movement of the Medical Guilds in the Argentjna. We obtained ecclesiastical approval from the then Archbishop Msgr. Bottaro, and our first censor was F~ther Furlong of the Jesuits, who shortly afterwards was succeeded by Father Perez Acosta, S . .:f, We haye developed on the lines lp.id down for the Guilds of Saint Cosmas, Lu'ke and Damian in England, by publishing a journal dedi-cated prinqipally to medico-moral problems, holding lectures, and organizing fongresses, etc. The fir~t important work we took in hand was that of the medical services for the Eucharistic Congress in the year 193-1-, when we organ-ized about ~3 first-aid stations, with about 100 doctors, 100 medical students and 500 nurses. Our work was spread out over the five days of the Congress, during which we had 11 considerable amount of casual-ties to attend to, principally due to hfat stroke. Our work thus being brought into prominence before the public eye, Professor Castano was invited tq become president and our Con-sorcio took on a new life. Many iJilportaqt University professors joined the Gonsorcio. A couiJle of years ago we organized a week of conferences on the Encyclical "Castii Connubis." Furthermore, in the last two years the Consorcio has formed a number of i1f11portant branches in the interior of the Republic in the towns of Rpsario, Cordoba, Santa Fe, Tucuman, Salta, Rio IV, and Bahia Blanpa. These g~ilds are following the same procedure which we have stavted. It may interest you to know that other professional bodies have i imitated us py forming guilds (Consorcios) of economists, architects, ~ engineers, lq.wyers, dentists and pharptacists. The progress of these T~E LINACRE QU4RTERLY ------------------societies is 11aturally1 as you are well aware, a slow one and their moral inflqence ca~not be rpeasured in material terrps. We a)sp supply doctors to a Catholic huspital which is in process of developiJlent py the Society of Saint Vin'cent de Paul. Dqring the l&st few years we have given regular conferences in the winter months oq medico-moral probleflls and also on purely medi-cal subjects, Occasionally we invite prominent men who do not belong · to pur guil<l to ~ccture to us, thus leading to interesting discussions. We arJl pleased to state that we have r~c~ived the greatest encour-agement from t~e Hierarchy, His Eminence Cardinal Copello taking a keen interest i1r our progress. The Jiippocratic oath to be taken by recently-qualified graduates had been dropp~d py the University Authorities in Bu(!nos Aires.-We wer~ able to have ~ Christian modification adopted. Apart frorp the results shown above of qur work, improvement in the general Catholic life of the profession perhaps can be seen in the invitation from the Argentine Medical Association, to celebrate its 50th anniversary, asking its members to att~nd , a Mass in memory of the deceased members of the Association at the Church of Our Lady of Good Sqccou r. ·we had an interesting programme for !fDoctors' Day" "Dia del Medico") whicq ha& been fixed for the 18th of October, the feast of Saint Luke, by the authorities of the National University of Buenos Aires. ·we were honoured at the lunch by t)le presence of Monsignor Fietta, the papul nuncio. Every year at the feast of St. Luke, after Mass, generally said by some chQrch dignitary, the new member$ of the G~ild are sworn to membership. Tre ceremony includes prayers approved by His Emi-nence Cardjpal Copello. The ceremony is quite a picturesque one. The president l-qeelipg &t the foot of the altar in the presence of the church dignitary reads aloud the oath, which is repe11ted by the new members. After the cerelllony a Guild breakfast for aU members is held. All this WtJ think is particularly due to our activity, and shows that the leaqers of t~e Medical Association are active Catholics. Very sincerely yours, (Signed) M. J . fETTY, F.R.C.S., First President, Consorcio de llf edico Catvl{cos de Buenos Aires; Senior Slfrgeon, British Hospital, Buenos Aires. r 48 1 

To the Editor of \u3cem\u3eThe Linacre Quarterly\u3c/em\u3e

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To the Editor of \u3cem\u3eThe Linacre Quarterly\u3c/em\u3e

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