The creation of the “Medical Society St. Luke, St. Cosmas and St. Damian” by a surgeon in Le Mans, France, in 1884, following the appeal of Leo XIII, is a reference for the entire Catholic medical movement. This association expands rapidly: 500 members in 1888, 1,000 in 1907 and 1,500 in 1927.

Other Catholic Medical Associations in Europe emerge:

  • Portugal in 1915,
  • Belgium in 1922,
  • then Germany, Austria, Denmark, Great Britain, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, Poland, Switzerland, Czechoslovakia, and on other continents (USA, Argentina, China, Tunisia).
  • In 1924, Octave Pasteau, physician in Paris, and president of St. Luke Society from 1922 to 1939, organizes under the influence of Pius XI, a “Central Secretariat of the National Societies of Catholic Doctors“

Congresses take place in:

  • Budapest 1930,
  • Paris 1934,
  • Brussels 1935 (1st International Congress): delegates come from Europe, United States, Colombia, and Chile;
  • Vienna 1936 (2nd International Congress);
  • Lisbon 1947 (3rd International Congress): delegates come from Europe, Brazil, Canada, and Chile;
  • Rome 1949 (4th International Congress). A second secretariat, affiliated to Pax Romana (where there are also secretariats of writers, scientists, chemists, engineers, lawyers …), is created and lasts until 1962.
  • Paris 1951 (5th International Congress). The two secretariats merge. The decision is made to create an International Federation. Luigi Gedda (Italy) is elected President, and remains in office until 1966.
  • Dublin 1954 (6th International Congress): delegates come from Europe, and United States, India, Japan, and Mexico.
  • The Hague 1956 (7th International Congress). Delegates come from Europe and the United States. Brussels 1958 (8th International Congress). 3 000 participants come from 7 different health professions and more than 40 countries. Delegates from Asia (Japan, Philippines, and Viet Nam) decide to create an Asian Federation (the 1st Congress takes place in Manila in 1960).
  • Munich 1960 (9th International Congress). 400 participants come from 24 countries (including Philippines, and Vietnam
  • London 1962 (10th International Congress). 700 participants come from 34 countries on all continents, including Africa (Nigeria, Tanganyika, Zimbabwe), Asia (India, Sri Lanka, Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan, Vietnam, Philippines), and Oceania (Australia, New Zealand). The International Congress will now take place every four years. A working group “Europe” is created, and chaired by Jean Lereboullet (France).
  • Malta 1964 (First European Congress). 400 participants come from 20 countries, including Germany (FRG), Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Great Britain, Holland, Ireland, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland, but also Australia, and USA. Jean Lereboullet is elected president, and remains in office until 1980.

The world wide expansion of these congresses begins in 1966 by the Congress in Manila (Philippines), where the statutes of the international federation ‘FIAMC’ are voted. From then on the International Congresses are held on all continent where there are organizations of Catholic Doctors:

  • Washington in 1970,
  • Barcelona in 1974,
  • Bombay in 1978,
  • Rome in 1982,
  • Buenos-Aires in 1986,
  • Bonn in 1990,
  • Porto in 1994,
  • New York in 1998,
  • Seoul in 2002,
  • Barcelona in 2006
  • Lourdes in 2010
  • Manila in 2014
  • Zagreb in 2018

The European federation ‘FEAMC’ has its first statutory meeting in 1971, then a Congress every 4 years:

  • Nuremberg in 1972,
  • London in 1976,
  • Brussels in 1980,
  • Lisbon in 1984,
  • Versailles in 1988,
  • Venice in 1992,
  • Prague in 1996,
  • Rome for the Jubilee Year 2000 (in conjunction with the Congress of AMCI, and an extraordinary congress of FIAMC),
  • Bratislava in 2004,
  • Gdansk in 2008
  • Rome in 2012
  • Porto in 2016.

The fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989 allows the associations of eastern european countries to become active (as evidenced by the Congresses of Prague, Bratislava and Gdansk).

FEAMC currently includes 22 countries and is the largest continental federation.

Website feamc.eu