CHINA – Doctors from the Shanghai Catholic Intellectuals Association promote initiatives for children with special needs.

Wednesday, 24 September 2025

CHINA

Shanghai (Agenzia Fides) – They are taking off their white coats and offering their help like family members, as if they were the patients’ aunts and uncles. This is how doctors and therapists from the Shanghai Catholic Intellectuals Association have promoted a valuable initiative at the Starlight Center to support children with special needs. The center also specializes in using music as a tool for social integration.

On Sunday, September 21, the Association’s group of doctors traveled to the Starlight Center, where they offered free medical consultations and check-ups to 28 families with children with special developmental needs, such as autism, throughout the day.

To ensure more comprehensive and professional care, the Catholic doctors set up five specialized “mini-clinics” where procedures in internal medicine, surgery, ultrasound, electrocardiography, and dentistry were performed. Each area consisted of a team of experienced medical professionals who deliberately avoided wearing traditional doctor’s coats to create a familiar atmosphere for the young patients and their families. Special attention was paid to considering and meeting the wishes and needs of the children’s relatives by offering the opportunity for “parental consultations.” Parents received individualized advice on continuing treatment at home and promoting a healthy and balanced diet for their children.

The initiative of the Catholic doctors embodies the spirit of service to society that characterizes the Association of Catholic Intellectuals of the Diocese of Shanghai, an institution that has been operating for decades and was founded on the initiative of Bishop Aloysius Jin Luxian (1916-2013).

“As Catholic intellectuals,” Father Anton Chen Ruiqi recalled during the Mass on September 6 for the association’s third annual retreat, “we must always keep the association’s mission in mind, without ever abandoning our faith, by placing our talents and energies at the service of Shanghai society and the country.” The Association of Catholic Intellectuals of the Diocese of Shanghai was founded in June 1986 and today has more than 600 members divided into five groups: doctors, those responsible for charitable works, artists and art experts, teachers, and a coordination group. The association regularly organizes pilgrimages, catechesis, Eucharistic celebrations, and retreats.

(NZ) (Agenzia Fides, 24/9/2025)