"…health-care is a ministerial instrument of God's outpouring love … it is an actualized
continuation of the healing love of Christ, who 'went about doing good and healing
everyone.'(Acts 10:38)

Doctors, nurses, other health care workers, voluntary assistants, are called to be the living
image of Christ and of his Church in loving the sick and the suffering:" witnesses of 'the
gospel of life.' Service to life is such only if it is faithful (to the moral law)…"
-Pontifical Council for Pastoral Assistance Charter for Health Care Workers


General Links
Catholic Medical Association The purpose of the association is to uphold Catholic faith
and morality as related to the science and practice of medicine.
USCCB Ethical & Religious Directives directives for ethical health care services
Pontifical Council for Pastoral Assistance Charter for Healthcare Workers
Physicians for Life The purpose is to help network for those who feel alone in their pro-life
stand and resources for a wide range of pro-life and abstinence needs.
Pope Paul VI Institute Building a culture of life in women's health care.
For Physicians & Health Care Workers
Prayer

Divine Physician, who in your earthly life showed special concern for those who suffer and
entrusted to your disciples the ministry of healing, make us ever ready to alleviate the trials of
our brethren. Make each One of us, aware of the great mission that is entrusted to him, strive
always to be, in the performance of daily service, an instrument of your merciful love.
Enlighten our minds, guide our hands, make our hearts diligent and compassionate. Ensure
that in every patient we know how to discern the features of your divine Face.

You who are the Way, provide us with the gift of knowing how to imitate you every day as
medical doctors not only of the body but of the whole person, helping those who are sick to
tread with trust their own earthly path until the moment of their encounter with You.

You who are the Truth, provide us with the gift of wisdom and science in order to penetrate
the mystery of the human person and their transcendent destiny as we draw near to them in
order to discover the causes of their maladies and find suitable remedies.

You who are the Life, provide us with the gift of preaching and bearing witness to the
'Gospel of life' in our profession, committing ourselves to defending it always, from
conception to its natural end, and to respect the dignity of every human being, and especially
the dignity of the weakest and the most in need.

Make us O Lord, Good Samaritans, ready to welcome, treat, and console those we encounter
in our work. Following the example of the holy medical doctors who have preceded us, help
us to offer our generous contribution to the constant renewal of health care structures.

Bless our studies and our profession, enlighten our research and our teaching. Lastly, grant
to us, having constantly loved and served You in our suffering brethren, that at the end of our
earthly pilgrimage we may contemplate your glorious countenance and experience the joy of
the encounter with You in your Kingdom of joy and everlasting peace.

Amen.

Prayer for the Catholic Physician by John Paul the Great 29 June 2000
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