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MESSAGES FROM THE PRESIDENT...
Christmas 2000
CHRISTMAS 2000
Dear Friends,A new year is almost over. It has been a very important year.
With our personal witness and with the every day activities of our Associations, we have contributed to the fulfillment of the prophecy of St. John the Baptist reported by Luke: "All mankind will see the salvation of God".
We had the privilege to create opportunities for the people of our day to encounter the salvation of God - His Son Jesus Christ &endash; within the unique environment of health care activities and institutions, where all persons, regardless of their faith, are in search for their salvation.
Moreover, the year 2000 was a very special one for us. It was the year of the Great Jubilee that will end soon, a year of abundant mercy and of opportunities for changing life. It was also the year of great events for FIAMC.
In February, we had the opportunity to take part in the Jubilee of the Sick in Rome, offering to the Pope the wonderful project of our Singapore Guild in Myanmar.
In July, we celebrated in Rome our 20th World Congress and the Jubilee of the Catholic Doctors. On this occasion, we received from the Holy Father the Prayer of the Doctor which he composed for us and which was read for the first time during the opening ceremony of the Congress. During the Congress, we also presented the project for the maternity hospital in East Timor to Msgr. Carlos X. Belo, the Timorese Bishop who was awarded the Nobel Prize for peace. The only sad occurrence of the Congress was the forced absence of our Cuban friends, impeded by their government.
In July, our Asian branch, the Asian Federation of Catholic Medical Associations, celebrated its 12th Congress in Kuala Lumpur, with delegates coming from difficult countries as well, such as Vietnam, Pakistan, and Indonesia. A few months later, as a new sign of special appreciation after the gift of the Prayer, we were delighted to receive from the Holy Father a substantial contribution for the hospital in East Timor and support for our own activities.
Truly, the year of the Jubilee of the New Millennium was a memorable one for our Federation.
Unfortunately, the year 2000 did not consist only of joyful events. Prof. Luigi Gedda, one of the men who contributed most to the process that brought about the foundation of FIAMC in 1966, died at age 98, after an entire life spent in the service of Catholic Associationism (not only in medicine), and of faithful close cooperation with several popes. May he continue to work on our behalf from Heaven!
A few days ago, the terrible news of the approval of the Euthanasia Law in one of the branches of the Dutch Parliament opened a new deep wound in the principle of respect for life. In the years to come, we will certainly be confronted with further decay of the standards of medical ethics. Our duty cannot be only that of refusing procedures that are morally unacceptable, but also of fighting for influencing cultures, attitudes and laws. Let's pray to the Infant Jesus to help our efforts.
I wish you and your families the peace of Christmas and a new year full of blessings.
Gian Luigi Gigli, M.D, President of FIAMC
EASTER MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT
Udine, April 13, 2001To all the friends of FIAMC
Dear friends,
The recent final approval of the euthanasia law in Holland is not in the line of the Resurrection, and it will certainly promote new efforts to approve this kind of laws in other countries. Our task as Catholic physicians is even more full of responsibilities in showing to our colleagues and patients that sufference is not a meaningless condition to accept masochistically, that death is not the final word, that it is not a hopeless frontier able only to elicit despair. In our actions and in our words, in our faces and in our gestures, we have to show that our hope is possible for everybody, since it has already changed and given joy to our life.
Lent is over, today we commemorate the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, certain that He will rise again. Death has been defeated once forever and Life will triumph despite the forces of evil are still at work. "Mors et vita duello conflixere mirando, Dux vitae mortuus regnat vivus". Death and Life fought in a terrific duel, the Leader of Life, who died, is reigning alive.
I wish all of you, your families and your associations, a blessed Easter. May the Risen Lord give strength to your endeavours and bring you joy and peace. Surrexit Dominus vere, Alleluja!
Gian Luigi Gigli, M.D, President of FIAMC
MESSAGE PASCAL DU PRÉSIDENT
Udine, 13 avril 2001A tous les amis de la FIAMC
Chers amis,
La récente approbation finale de la loi sur l'euthanasie en Hollande n'est pas dans la ligne de la Résurrection et va certainement promouvoir de nouveaux efforts pour aprouver ce genre de loi dans d'autres Pays. Notre tâche en tant que Médecins Catholiques n'en est que plus pleine de la responsabilité de montrer à nos collègues et à nos patients que la souffrance n'est pas une situation sans signification à accepter de façon masochiste, que la mort n'est pas le mot final, qu'elle n'est pas une frontière sans espoir seulement capable de justifier le désespoir. Dans nos actes et dans nos paroles, sur nos visages et dans nos gestes, nous devons montrer que notre espoir est possible pour tous, puisqu'il a déjà changé notre vie et lui a donné la joie.
Le Carême est terminé, aujourd'hui nous commémorons la Résurrection de notre Seigneur Jésus Christ, certain qu'Il se lèvera de nouveau. La Mort a été défaite une fois pour toutes et la Vie triomphera en dépit des forces du mal, toujours au travail. "Mors et vita duello conflixere mirando, Dux vitae mortuus regnat vivus". La Mort et la Vie se sont livré combat dans un duel terrible, le Leader de Vie, qui a connu la mort, est vivant et règne.
Je vous souhaite à tous, à vos familles et à vos associations, une fête de Pâques bénie. Puisse le Seigneur donner de la force à vos efforts et vous apporter la joie et la paix. Surrexit Dominus vere, Alleluja!
Dr Gian Luigi Gigli, President de la FIAMC
CHRISMAS MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT
Udine, December 19, 2001
Dear Friends,
May the light of Bethlehem pour abundant blessings upon your work and families and keep us in friendship. May the infant Jesus bring peace to the world, especially in the Holy Land where He was born. May He reward our commitment to the service of human life and dignity. On behalf also of the other Officers of FIAMC, I wish you a joyful and holy Christmas and a peaceful and fruitful year 2002.
Gian Luigi Gigli, M.D., PresidentThe grace of God, bringing salvation to all mankind, has appeared (Paul, Tit. 2,11)
"It is my fervent hope that at the beginning of this new millennium, all Catholic medical and health care personnel, whether in research or practice, will commit themselves whole-heartedly to the service of human life".
John Paul II (From the address to the participants of the International Meeting of Catholic Obstetricians, organized by FIAMC and MCI, Rome June 18th 2001).EASTER MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT
Udine, March 28, 2002The Executive Committee of the World Federation of Catholic Medical Associations (FIAMC) wishes you a joyful Easter in the light of the Risen Christ. May He support our efforts in promoting and defending life.
Gian Luigi Gigli, MD, President of FIAMC"Why do you seek among the dead Him who is alive?"
SURREXIT DOMINUS VERE ! ALLELUJA !
Giotto: Easter Morning, Padua, Cappella degli Scrovegni"Despite the pressure upon their conscience, many still recognize their responsibility as medical specialists to care for the tiniest and weakest of human beings, and to defend those who have no economic or social power or public voice of their own."
John Paul II to the International Meeting of Catholic Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, promoted by FIAMC and MCI, Rome June 18th, 2001CHRISMAS MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT
Udine, December 19, 2002To the Friends of FIAMC
To all those who promote and defend life and human dignity in the health field"In the mystery of Christ's Birth the encounter of God with man takes place and the earthly journey of the Son of God begins, a journey which will culminate in the gift of his life on the Cross. By his death Christ will conquer death and become for all humanity the source of new life".
(John Paul II, Evangelium Vitae, n.102)
Lorenzo Lotto, NativityI wish you and your families a grace-filled Christmas
and a New Year of peace, joy and God's abundant blessings
Gian Luigi GigliEASTER MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT
Udine, 18th April 2003PASCHA IN RESURRECTIONE DOMINI 2003
Resurrection, XVIth century Russian IconO night clearer than the day!
O night clearer than the day! O night more luminous than the sun! O night whiter than the snow!
Giving more light than our torches, sweeter than Paradise!
O night that knows no darkness; driving away our sleep, you make us keep watch with the angels.
O night, the terror of demons, Paschal night, awaited for a year!
The Church's wedding night which gives life to the newly baptized
and renders harmless the torpidity of the demon.
Night in which the Heir brings the heirs into eternity.
St. Asterius of Amesea, late 4th century
Dear Friends,
Apparently, this year's Easter night looks very different from what St. Asterius of Amesea proposes to us as a hymn of praise in the passage that I reported above.
Rumors of war continue to reach our ears and touch our hearts in Iraq, in Syria, in the Holy Land of Jesus, in many countries of Africa and Asia.
How can we experience peace in ourselves and bring it to the world of our times?
How can we put our hope for freedom and liberation in something different than the march of an army?
Is it possible to separate peace from development and social justice?
How can we be against war without surrendering to those who are oppressors?
Is violence the only "human" response to violence?
Can those who are defending life be actors in a war?I found some answers in the words of the Holy Father John Paul II, written long before the current international crisis.
I offer them to your meditation for this 2003 Easter, wishing you and your families the blessing of God and His help in your work in favour of life and human dignity.
Gian Luigi Gigli, MD, President of FIAMC------------------------- "It is by uniting his own sufferings for the sake of truth and freedom to the sufferings of Christ on the Cross that man is able to accomplish the miracle of peace and is in a position to discern the often narrow path between the cowardice which gives in to evil and the violence which, under the illusion of fighting evil, only makes it worse".
John Paul II, Encyclical Letter CENTESIMUS ANNUS, 25 (1991)"Also to be mentioned here, as a sign of respect for life - despite all the temptations to destroy it by abortion and euthanasia - is a concomitant concern for peace, together with an awareness that peace is indivisible. It is either for all or for none. It demands an ever greater degree of rigorous respect for justice and consequently a fair distribution of the results of true development".
John Paul II, Encyclical Letter SOLLICITUDO REI SOCIALIS, 26 (1987)CHRISMAS MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT
Udine, 22 December 2003
FIAMC wishes you
a blessed Christmas
and a joyful and peaceful 2004You will go, such is our prayer,
across Europe and Asia,
before fear destroys again
the damned Capitals,
to lay your Fruit behind tall walls.
You will fly from pinnacle to pinnacle,
around the domes.
You will enter from churches' ogives
and behind skyscrapers' forests,
in the heart of the royal palace
and in the middle of the steppe:
you will migrate as a pilgrim
and immediately and everywhere
you will deliver your Son,
joy and unity of all things,
Oh Eternal Mother.(from "Ingemiscit Natura", by David M. Turoldo)
