4 March 1989
To the Italian Association of Catholic Doctors
1. I address my cordial greetings to you, members of the new National Council of the Italian Association of Catholic Doctors, who have come to Rome in order to study during these days the work programme for the next three-year period. It is a program which, according to the objectives stated in your statutes, intends to promote in the public opinion, and particularly in the medical field, the unchanging ethical values of medicine, as total and integral service to life and to the dignity of the human person.
Your Association, often with sensitive foresight, has always been prominent in the effort to reconcile the twofold demand of the respect for life and for science; this vision of the human person considered as an image of the greatness and beauty of God, opens to science a field of unlimited research. To deny, forget or underestimate this proper harmonious composition of values causes not a few of the evils which afflict the society of our time.
2. The Association has distinguished itself by its faithfulness to the Magisterium of the Church and to her pastoral directives, aimed at safeguarding and promoting life, from conception to its natural end. Therefore, it is with pleasure that I express great appreciation for this faithfulness which requires a consistent Christian life, courageous initiatives, careful preparation, constant formation and updating.
I find it also significant that the periodic election of the administrative bodies of the Association takes place in the course of the Congresses dedicated to the most relevant topics and problems which involve Christian morality.
I have repeated many times in my meetings with health care workers, your profession corresponds to a vocation which commits you to the noble mission of service to man in the vast, complex and mysterious field of suffering. With the same love of Christ you will see in the one who suffers, a friend, a brother or sister.
As I said in the recent Apostolic Exhortation: “It is to such people – doctors, nurses, other health care workers, volunteers – that the call becomes the living sign of Jesus Christ and his Church in showing love towards the sick and the suffering” (Christifideles Laici, 53).
Animated by an ecclesial corresponsibility, you recognize among your duties that of fostering the development of health care of the most needy peoples, contributing to health care projects by sending doctors and equipment to developing countries. This activity puts into practice in an exemplary manner that proper human solidarity which promotes and furthers good relations among mankind.
3. Furthermore, I am happy to express my gratitude for the contribution and the collaboration which your Association continues to give to the Pontifical Council for Pastoral Assistance to Health Care Workers. You have wished to include such a collaboration also among the norms of your Statutes. This Dicastery, established to strengthen and extend the care and commitment of the Church towards the sick, should find in you, Catholic health care workers, as well as in all those who recognize the perennial values of service to those who suffer, a most valuable and effective support.
In the fulfillment of your administrative duties, may you be guided by faith, a gift of God, and, together with the love for science, by a strong spirit of mutual understanding, availability and openness to all those who, with you, are dedicated to the defence and the quality of life.
May the Most Holy Virgin, Health of the Sick and Seat of Wisdom, inspire and accompany your work, on which I invoke the heavenly Blessing.
John Paul II
