Presidential Address of Dr. J. E. Holoubek to the Executive Board dele1gates attending       the annual meeting in Atlantic City, New Jersey, June 16, 196

Holoubek, J. E.

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The Linacre QuarterlyVolume 30 | Number 3 Article 1August 1963Essence of ConcernJ. E. HoloubekFollow this and additional works at: https://epublications.marquette.edu/lnqRecommended CitationHoloubek, J. E. (1963) "Essence of Concern," The Linacre Quarterly: Vol. 30 : No. 3 , Article 1.Available at: https://epublications.marquette.edu/lnq/vol30/iss3/1Presidential Address of Dr. J. E. Holoubek to the Executive Board dele1 ates attending the annual meeting in Atlantic City, New Jersey, June 16, 963. It is a great pleasure for me to welcome the delegates of our constituent groups to this annual Executive Board meeting of the National Federation of Catholic Physicians' Guilds. I should like to recall the words of Dr. Count Gibson at our winter gathering in Denver in December, 1961, when he stated: "One meets so many physicians who give so much of themselves and of their substance to the work of the National Federation of Catholic Physicians' G u i l d s ,  although they probably have little of each to spare." The increased growth of the organization is reflected more and more in the activity of the Board sessions. All "old timers" (this is my fourteenth meeting) remember when a few delegates would transact the Federation's entire business as one commit­tee. Now, an entire day prior to the official meeting is devoted to special committee discussions. Indeed, some chairmen meet with their groups throughout the year. And this is the way it should be. It would have been my wish to have visited every Guild in the past ) ear, but it was impossible to travel more than I did. One could easily devote all of his time to this organization and thoroughly enjoy it. I wish to pay tribute to the tireless work of the committee 98 chairmen. May we also give ,1igh praise to our central office taff. The work in St. Louis has I-' ·eat­ly increased and in the in' .::rest of economy is handled b) just two persons. My own sec1 •tary and the nurses in my office have also been of great assistancs::. We are pleased to not, the new format of Guilds in , ctionand hope you will keep is in­formed of your activities o that this newsletter can reflPct the projects of our groups an:l keep us united as fellow Guild mem­bers. The Guild Manual h«s been published and distributed to each president and moderator. It is also used in the promotion of new Guilds. It is with pleasure that I re­port on the Health Care of Re­ligious Program. It has been a most successful project in the Diocese of Alexandria, Louisi­ana. His Excellency, Most Rev­erend Charles P. Greco, our Bishop, will present the Pro­gram at the annual meeting of the American Hierarchy this Fall. He will also outline his concept of a diocesan Program for all clergy and religious. At the same time His Excellency will review other activities of the Federation, including those of our membership committe7,urging the formation of Phys1-LINACRE QUARTERLY cians' Guilds in all dioceses. Gathering copies of all published material on the Health Care Program, Bishop Greco had op­portunity to present the Pro­gram to His Eminence Cardinal Cicognani, Papal Secretary of State, from whom he later re­ceived a note advising that he would recommend it for consid­eration at the next session of the Second Vatican Council. We extend our thanks to those who have engaged in this activ­ity and particularly commend Dr. James T. Nix of New Or­leans, chairman of the commit­tee, for his continued efforts. Now, I would like to step back .and take a penetrating look at the Federation. As a Catholic physician I have asked myself these questions and now ask them of each of you. Am I satis­fied with the image of the Na­tional Federation that has been ·created in the minds of our col­leagues, Catholic and non-Catho­lic? What image has the Federa­tion created for the Church, forthe Bishops, for laymen? Indeed,has it really created an imageat all? Are we considered simplyto be a pious professional societyand nothing else? To what ex­tent do we utilize the talentsGod has given us to develop the apostolate of the Catholic physi­cian? Do we, as individual phy­sicians and as groups do as muchas we should to extend the prin­ciples of morality in the light of the teachings of the Church among our Catholic co-workers as well as non-Catholic physi­cians? Today the Federation is aboutthe sixth largest medical organi­zation in the country. But it hasthe potential to climb even high­er, second only to the AmericanAUGUST, 1963 Medical Association. We are proud of our 7,000 membership. There are, however, 30,000 Cath­olic physicians in the United States. What is our apostolate concerning those others not in our number? Are we endeavor­ing to contact every Catholic physician in our diocese, or are we as Catholic doctors with­drawn because of social status, national origin, or even the color of skin? Were we to communi­cate with all of these physicians, we would perhaps have fewer of them making public statements and practicing a level of medi­cine contrary to God's law. Are we doing anything in an organized way to meet our Cath­olic medical students, residents and interns and those in the Armed Forces? Much is being done by our membership com­mittee on a national level, but each of us should feel respon­sible in this area. Six Catholic medical schools in the United States have an enrollment of 2,108 students, approximately two-thirds of whom are Catholic. There are eighty-one non-Cath­olic medical schools with an en­rollment of 28,217. About one­fourth of these students are Catholic. This is a sizeable num­ber and we should be looking after the interests of this group. The Newman Clubs in these medical schools need our assist­ance. Our Catholic interns and resi­dents deserve special considera­tion. There are 863 Catholic hos­pitals in the United States, �94 of which are approved for m­ternship. There are 582 interns in these institutions. Do we teach these men and women by example and instruction, or do we relegate this to the Sisters on 99 the wards or in the operating rooms? Among the 20,690 interns and 7,822 residents in non-Cath­o l i  c hospitals, approximately one-fifth are Catholic. They, too, are our special concern. I would like to suggest that our Guilds provide some type of membership in the National Federation for our Catholic med­ical students, interns, and resi­dents and make available THE LINACRE QUARTERLY, our journal, at the same time establishing a program that would give them priority consideration in our apostolate. This would, of course, be at no charge to them. Those in the Armed Forces should have like attention. In Government service, there are, 6,273 physicians in public health, 3,500 in the Navy, 3,500 in the Army, 3,300 in the United States Air Force, and 5,560 in the Veterans Administration. This is a total of 22,133. At least one­fifth of these are Catholic. In short, we should reach ev­ery Catholic physician through­out the land. Our diocese of Alexandria comprises the north­ern half of Louisiana, an area of 20,000 square miles. We have seventy-six Catholic physicians either in practice or internship, residency, or the Armed Forces. All but two are members of this Federation. Let us consider another im­portant phase of the Federation. We publish an official journal, THE LINACRE QUARTERLY. While the magazine's circulation is substantial, . it is not read by all Catholic physicians, and, as we have mentioned, medical stu­dents, interns, and residents. Much of the material contained in its pages would benefit our parish priests as well as our non-100 Catholic colleagues. Each t us should assume responsibili' to increase the subscription lis be­yond Guild membership. '<;di­torial material is in constan de­mand; LINACRE is our voice and to be heard, articles are n, ded for publication. A strong pl a is made in this direction. In recent years some ol our physicians have been servin the Church in foreign medical ,nis­sions. We are capable of )ing even more. Our Los Ar eles Guild has been a leader and done monumental work th, ,ugh the establishment of the M sion Doctors Association. Phys ians of other Guilds have given hort as well as long term se vice. Many have inspired their t0cal medical societies to do si 1ilar work. The example of Doct rs J. Leshock, C. Maternowsl J. Slaughter, J. Grady, J. E .bish and others serving for shor per­iods is exemplary and clai; , our respect and admiration. Wr have Dr. J. Foust with us toda, who has just returned from· four years work in the missit 1s of Africa. If these men .. erve, should not we, who do n,1t, at least contribute in other ':ays? Are we satisfied merely ll give some mission our worn out equipment, our drug sa•11ples and out-dated medicines and boast that we are doing our share? Are we giving of our sub­stance? Or, are we giving 3ust of our medical excess? To come back home, to what extent are we reaching all the physicians in the country in the language they understand. the language of scientific research. The work of the Health Care of Religious Committee attests to this; substantial grants have been provided to promote efforts LINACRE QUARTERLY in this regard. But there are other fields to cover also, Med­ico-moral principles need con­stant attention; the focus of at­tention on the anovulant drugs is certainly a case in point today. Innumerable research facilities are available to us. As we have mentioned, there are 863 Catho­lic hospitals in the United States. The kind of research that could come from the cooperation of the National Federation and The Catholic Hospital Association should be unequaled in the world. Will the National Federation ever be a leader among Catholic medical societies of the world? . Will it plan to send official dele­gates to important world con­gresses or rely on someone who "happens" to be attending to represent us? The XI Interna­tional Congress of Catholic Doc­tors will be held in the Philip-. pines in 1966. If the Catholic Physicians' Guild of the Philip­pines could send its president to Munich for the IX International in 1960, and to London for the following one in 1962, can we do less? As a matter of fact, we should invite this Congress to the United States at some future date. It would be costly. But if the Catholic physicians of Mu­nich could afford the IX Con­gress in 1960, only fifteen years after the devastation of their country, and if the small number of Catholic physicians of London could provide the one in July 1962, perhaps we could see our way clear to extend a like invi­tation. To speak further of mundane matters, may we speak of Fed­eration finances. If we do not have the cooperation of our Guild treasurers in remitting promptly for dues, supplying us with membership lists, and otherwise responding to our communications. the effective­ness of the entfre organization suffers. Much of the work at the central office, also the expense of follow-up, could be eliminated by closer affiliation of our con­stituent groups with our nation­al office. A study of our struc­ture by the Finance Committee indicates that this growing or­ganization operates on the very meager dues of $1.00 for each member which is not adequate to meet expenses and provide for expansion. The officers and committee chairmen who ex­pend personal finances on their projects should be reimbursed for actual expense. Ways and means to augment our budget are certainly in order. The foregoing are my ques­tions and some of my thoughts. More detailed recommendations have been made to the commit­tee chairmen. Our Federation has the potential, with the help of God, to make it a powerful and active organization, using to the utmost our talents He has given us. For if we choose to do nothing, in time our talents may be taken away. The choice is ours. 101 

Essence of Concern

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