Catholic Physicians\u27 Guilds

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The Linacre QuarterlyVolume 24 | Number 3 Article 1August 1957Federation Board Elects Dr. William J. Egan,President ...Catholic Physicians' GuildsFollow this and additional works at: http://epublications.marquette.edu/lnqRecommended CitationCatholic Physicians' Guilds (1957) "Federation Board Elects Dr. William J. Egan, President ...," The Linacre Quarterly: Vol. 24 : No. 3 ,Article 1.Available at: http://epublications.marquette.edu/lnq/vol24/iss3/1?eduaUo,e �o.a,,iel Eteeu Dr. ,Villiam J. Egan, President ... At the Executive Board Meeting on June 4, 1957, held in New York City, Dr. William J. Egan, member of the Guild of St. Luke, Boston, was elected the eighth President of The Federation of Catholic Physicians' Guilds. The eighth of nine children, Dr. Egan was born August 31, 1910. Educated in Boston, he was gradua ed from Harvard Medical School in 1936. His internship was servef1 at St. Elizabeth's Hospital and his military service was given a� As�,st­ant Chief of Surgery, Station Hospital. Fort Devens, Mass. In 1940, Dr. Egan married Miss Mary J. Sullivan of Newlon, Mass. Their wonderful family of eleven children ranges from ages one to sixteen years. In 1956 they were the recipients of the Family Life Award of the National Catholic Family Life Conference. He is a member of the International College of Surgeons, the A.M.A., and the Massachusetts Medical Society. Dr. Egan has also served as President of his Catholic Physicians' Guild. In his community he is a Knight of Columbus, a member of the Sacred H eart Conference of St. Vincent de Paul and belongs to the Camillus Guild of Boston and the Rosarians; he is also past President of the Sacred Heart Holy Name Society. Confining his practice to surgery, Dr. Egan is on the st�ffs of St. .Elizabeth's, St. Margaret's and Carney hospitals. A significant con­tribution to medicine is his collaborating in the discovery of afibrino-genemia in pregnancy. The Federation congratulates Dr. Egan on his �lection to the office of President and pledges loyal support during the years ahead. 74 LINACRE QUARTERLY With this issue of THE Lr-..:.,, RE QUARTERLY, the Federation of Catholic Physicians' Guilds begrn. its second quarter of a century of effort for Christ. The era, that ;� now history, was nobly commemo­rated on June 5, 1957 with a Ponl•fical Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral celebrated by His Eminence, Francis Cardinal Spellman. During din­ner that evening at the Waldorf-Astoria, the past Presidents and Moderators were honored. Th is outstanding function during the A.M.A. convention focused the ;i• tention of the country on the Guilds and their activities. To Dr. D;in Mulvihill, his dynamic and charm­ing wife and the committee members from the Greater New York Guilds, the officers of the FedHat1on cannot adequately express their sincere thanks for this wonderful Jubilee celebration. Through these first twenty-Ii ve years many have challenged: "Why an organization of Catholic physicians? Catholic doctors are wel­comed as members in all existing medical societies. There is no need for a sectarian medical group." The answer is simply that a Guild is an organization of Catholic men in medicine for Catholic Action. Pope Pius XI defined Catholic Action as a participation by the laity in the apostolate of the Church's Hierarchy. An apostolate, fur­ther, is a mission for the glory of God and the salvation of souls. Catholic Action is necessary for two reasons: I. The organization of evil can be overcome only by the organization of good; 2. The clergy cannot suffice. for the needs of Christian restoration because its num­bers are too few. A Catholic physician readily falls into one of four categories: First, the Catholic by birth whose faith has been cultivated at home and developed by strong parochial education at each level of education. This doctor brings into his practice a strong motivation by and for God. Secondly, the Catholic by birth with similar opportunities but· who at higher levels of education has changed his goal from the spir­itual to the material. The third group includes the Catholic by birth whose faith has never been cultivated or developed and who has be­come an unhappy wanderer constantly in search of the reason for his discontent. Into the fourth group falls the convert to the Faith who glories in what he has found and seeks to rapidly acquire a life-time of knowledge about his newly found treasure. A Guild, then, has specific and spiritual reasons for existence: to make happier the strong in their Faith; to make stronger the weak; to reclaim the wanderer, and to educate those seeking knowledge. This is the "why" of Catholic men in medicine united for Catholic Action in diocesan Guilds. WILLIAM J. EGAN, M.D. AUGUST, 1957 75 

Federation Board Elects Dr. William J. Egan, President ...

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Federation Board Elects Dr. William J. Egan, President ...

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