Vas, C. J.

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The Linacre QuarterlyVolume 52 | Number 1 Article 4February 1985Report from the President of the InternationalFederation of Catholic PhysiciansC. J. VasFollow this and additional works at: https://epublications.marquette.edu/lnqRecommended CitationVas, C. J. (1985) "Report from the President of the International Federation of Catholic Physicians," The Linacre Quarterly: Vol. 52 :No. 1 , Article 4.Available at: https://epublications.marquette.edu/lnq/vol52/iss1/4Report from the President .of the International Federation of Catholic Physicians Dr. C. J. Vas BOMBAY, INDIA I. Introduction I submit this report as is customary but regret that there · not much to record that is substantive. However, I must say I did a ·: empt to fulfill the aims and objectives of FIAMC to the best of m y tbility during the year under review. Being president of FIAMC is an onerous duty as it is obligat ,ry for me to continue and develop further the inspiration of the early / rench physicians who founded FIAMC and also that of the many pre!>1dents, secretary-generals and executive committee members who led FIAMC over the past few decades to the present time. Now, FIAJ\I C is a recognized international Catholic organization with great aims and a considerable potential for giving witness to Christ in the internat ional medical community. It is with this background that I should like to commence mY report with a reference to what was said to me by a delegate present in Mexico at the last meeting of the United States Guild of Catholic Physicians held in October, 1983. He was a doctor-priest from Canada who was interested in medical ethics and Catholic doctors in particu-lar. Yet he had not heard of FIAMC. He candidly told me that I appeared to be presiding over a "dead organization" as he did not see much activity in North America or internationally, for that matter. He went on to say that, in his opinion, there was a great need for an organization like FIAMC which provided intense Catholic fo rmation to Catholic medical students and doctors at the local, national and international levels. Being also the psychiatrist that he was, he remarked that everybody and every organization required for growth a challenge to be met. I do agree that we in FIAMC are not inactive, but there is no doubt whatever that we should be and can be more active than we are at the present time. We need to grow. Our Holy Father also expects it. We 1 16 Linacre QuarterlY m~t gro~. What •. then, is the challenge we must face? I hope that dunng this executtve meeting, we shall come up with fresh ideas and practical suggestions to promote the role of FIAMC all over the world. II. 1 ·After my return home from Mexico , I attended the Asian Continen-tal Meeting organized by the Pontifical Council of the Laity (PCL) ~~m Dec. 2-6, 1983, in my capacity of an office-bearer of FIAMC livm~ and working in Asia. This meeting was the fourth in a series of conb~ental meetings, the others haveing been held in Africa, Latin Amenca and Europe. The theme of this Asian get-together was "The Role of the Laity in the Church 's Life and Mission in Asian Society." ~e m~ting was at~ended by a _little over 100 delegates, consisting of cardmal, 4 archbtshops, 11 btshops, 10 priests 47 laymen 19 lay-wo d . ' ' m~n an representatives of some 26 international lay apostolate orgaruzations representing men, women and youth. , ha~~ a special message~ Pope John _ Pa~l II stated that the laity must an .awareness of bemg an ecclesiastical community. Messages were also dehve~ed by Opilio Cardinal Rossi and Bishop Paul Cordes, presi-dent and VIce-president, respectively, of the PCL. One of the keynote rkers, an I~di~n bishop, asked why Christianity had made such ttle headway m Its contacts with Asia's organized religions and sug-re~ t~at one major reason may be the neglect of the laity's role in e miSsion of the Church. h During the earlier part of the meeting, workshop-discussions were .eld to study and consider the interests of women youth and profes-Sional · d' ·d .. . ' sho m IVI _u~ls . Durmg th_e latter ~art _of . the ~eeting, the work-ps were dtvided on a regional basts w1thm Asia to consider their ~wn pro~l~ms and to sugg~st meaningful programs for the futw·e. . me J>?Sttive data surfaced m the workshops which dealt with "lndi-~uals_ m Positions of Responsibility" which should be of interest to tholic doctors : !)Examples were provided where responsible persons, even under duress, inspired their communities by their example and out-spokenness. · ' 2)R~ference was made to responsible persons who individually , and ~Ith the support of their communities, were able to prevent 1~moral or unjust legislation being enacted as, for instance, with divorce and abortion. 3> ~cause of the work done by persons in responsible positions, ~cular governments appreciated the contribution of the Chris-ne!la~ community and often depended on it in times of need. th Pite these examples, the delegates emphasized the fact that KUi~ Was no proper_ system of formation t o provide support and ce to responsible and professional individuals who needed February, 1985 17 I . ~ . \ , I I 1 I I o strength and encouragement. It was also pointed out that y o t· , pro-fessionals, including some in the medical field, were not a wan f the Catholic teaching in regard to abortion. Many expressed the view that providing witness alone v • not enough. Professionals had to go further and penetrate i n t~ every sphere of the secular order- socio-economic, political and cofes-sional (medicine, law, the world of trade unions and indust: ,_in order to inspire these fields with Christian values. It was agreed that, in order to carry out this difficult and d n and-ing role, formation and total commitment were necessary. Am · tg the means available for religious formation, many felt that ap a• from seminars and the like, special attention should be paid to t h e ole of associations and guilds. The delegates concluded their workshop discussions by i.man .. 10USlY agreeing that Catholic professionals had inadequate format i . and that this should be provided by an ongoing process which wot~ d have to be adapted to the changing conditions. Continual review an c· reflec· tion were thought necessary. It was felt that such a doct rir al and apostolic formation would produce mature Christians capable <,f play· ing their proper role in the temporal order. The delegates also advised that national formation center s h estab· lished and that wherever possible these identify professionals 10 the different fields advise affiliation to international organ · zations and provide enco~agement particularly to young professionals, as they are often left alone to fend for themselves. The second part of the meeting considered the problem of the various regions in Asia. It was of interest that all unanimou sly con· eluded that intensive formation in doctrinal and spiritual matters was necessary. They advised that formation centers, associations, se~inar: and other such groups be used at all levels by the laity to ac qurre th necessary formation. This was recommended not only fo r youth, women and workers but also for .professionals such as doc tors. The ' ' t' n plea was made that new models for apostolic and doctrinal forma 10 were required which should be discussed and made available to ~· The delegates were keen that contact be continued between the parti· . t. to cipants of the Hong Kong meetmg and that they should con m~e er stimulate one another and ~eep abreast of developments e1t~ through their own episcopal conferences, the Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences, or through the PCL itself. . to It was of interest also that the delegates unammously resolved request the Holy Father to devote the next World Synod of Bishops to consideration of the role of the laity in the life and mission of the Church. Happily, this is to be so, as we now know. to The delegates from different parts of Asia also requested the PCL_ address itself to the formation . of the laity in ~e~ation to ~he m;:~ religions of the area and to av01d the dangers ar1smg from nvalrY 18 Linacre QuarterlY mutual suspicions among the countries, resulting often in an unfortu-nate arms race. It will be observed that the various Asian regions all felt a specific need for doctrinal and apostolic matters among all sections of the laity and, as far as we are concerned, particularly among the professionals such as medical students and doctors. The specific recommendations of the Workshop Concerning Persons in Positions of Responsibility recommended the following: a) Formation in doctrinal and apostolic matters; establishment of national formation centers. b) Basic formation of the individual through the Family Bible Apostolate, reinforced in schools and shared through peer and community groups together with participation in the liturgy and doctrinal training. c) Formal training and formation of the laity, hand-in-hand with their involvement in community life and a deep prayer life. The delegates reminded themselves of the words of Pope Paul VI who said, "The world wants and expects of us simplicity of life, Pl'ayerfulness, love for all, especially the lowly and the poor, obedience and humility, self-forgetfulness and renunciation; and if we lack this holiness, only with difficulty will our words reach the heart of modern man." III. Participation in the Hong Kong meeting organized by the PCL pro-Vided me with a tremendous opportunity to meet delegates from all Parts of Asia and to learn of their problems. One particular such issue was raised by a delegate in Taiwan in relation to a young woman who was in a coma for many years. She was a non-Christian and her Parents, who originally belonged to a financially middle-class family, were reduced to penury as a result of attending to the patient. An appeal had been made to the government of that country to permit l!lercy killing, but this was refused. I was asked if FIAMC could help. Fortunately, after my return home, I was able to obtain assistance from Mother Teresa, who agreed to look after this young lady in one of her homes which she hoped to establish in Taiwan later in the year. My appeal to Cheshire International was also met with a positive offer of assistance. In this way, I was happy that I could render some help to this unfortunate family at the individual level, but the thought did OCcur that this type of service should not be too difficult to provide at OUr national levels with some concerted action. IV. . The southeast Asian region of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, at Ita meeting in India, invited me to present an inaugural address. At that l'ebruary,l985 19 ·, . . . I ' I I time, I spoke of the work of St. Vincent de Paul in their pro> tm cif "Man to Man Activity," paying particular attention to there~ · rob· lems faced by many in regard to abortion, euthanasia and man sexuality. As a result of the information which I presented, th '5roup realized that it was in need of instruction in these medical t op q and, being true followers of Frederic Ozanam, they appealed to the fAMC Bio-Medical Ethics Centre to provide the necessary bad round information which would help them in looking after the .man · t hou· sands of individuals who seek their aid. Incidentally, we have a 1 ) been asked for assistance in the program organized by the Cathol Inter· national Bureau for " Street Children. " v. A colloquium was also held on the subject of Catholic postgrad-uates wishing to specialize in obstetrics, but who were compelled , for this purpose, to perform abortions. We studied the implications of this and realized, as had been known for a long time, that in a few years to come, no Catholic doctors following magisterial teachings would be able to specialize in obstetrics. Therefore, our community and institu-tions in many parts of the world will soon be denied the assistance of Catholic doctors in this area. This is an imp9rtant problem which should be studied internationally and we have appealed urgently to the Holy See to take up this matter for consideration. You will also be glad to know that the FBMEC proposed to the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India to organize a three-day col-loquium on medico-moral and ethical matters which are of pastoral concern. This meeting will be held in November, 1985, and it is hoped I have, through the year, maintained contact with the I·· ntifical Council " Cor Unum," the Pontifical Council of the Laity ar:d. , more recently, the new Pontifical Council for Culture (PCC). The ·cc has asked our views in certain matter~ of interest to it and I cir< .Jlate its questionnaire which we have to return . , that we shall also be able to help other bishops' conferences in a similar way, if requested. VI. I am glad to report that I have been in communication with a group of doctors in Tasmania who wish to start a national association in that country and who, in the course of time, will hopefully invoive them· selves with FIAMC. I wish to conclude my report by presenting to you three urgent concerns which cause me great anxiety: l)Not much progress has been made in extending our work and contacts in Latin America. We have to plan this carefully. 2) Involvement of FIAMC in Africa is also slow, but there is a large scope for activity. This aspect also needs to be intensified. 3) The most serious cause of anxiety is the subject of our secretar-iat. You will all recall that we decided to locate our secretariat in Rome in the hope that we would see more activity. Regrettably, this has not materialized and it is therefore necessary to see what action has to be taken. · , I conclude this rather lengthy report by thanking each one of you for Your assistance and pray that the year to come will see more fruitful activity in FIAMC. VII. The major part of my time, which amounts to many hours a week, has been spent in the work undertaken by the FBMEC (FIAMC l Bio-Medical Ethics Centre). For your information, I am circU· lating the report of this center for the year 1983, which is self· explanatory. I would like to emphasize that India is really a melting pot of many nations, especially those of the developing world . Various programs which would be rejected in the advanced count ries, are presented in India for consideration. If accepted, many dangers maY arise. I am referring in particular to the concerted attempts which have been made internationally for the legalization of mercy killing. T~e FBMEC, therefore, appointed a task force for the study of euthanasia and more recently, conducted a workshop on the definition of the criteria of death; these criteria have not been studied very much in the developing world. ·Here I would like to acknowledge the significant J help provided by Dr. Jack Mullooly, who sent us a lot of very useful material. 20 Linacre QuarterlY 'ebruary, 1985 21 " . . 

Report from the President of the International Federation of Catholic Physicians

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Report from the President of the International Federation of Catholic Physicians

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