We are all aware of the tremendous advances being made in medical and health sciences. However, the benefit of this technology is not reaching the masses. The health situation in our country is in need of a lot of improvement. The Church affirms the intrinsic dignity and worth of every person, and in particular every sick person. On February 11, 2007, on the occasion of the sixteenth World Day of the Sick, Pope Benedict affirmed “that the Church turns her eyes to those who suffer and calls attention to the incurably ill, many of whom are dying from terminal diseases. They are found on every continent, particularly in places where poverty and hardship cause immense misery and grief…In hospitals, hospices and homes throughout the world we encounter the sufferings of our many brothers and sisters who are incurably and often terminally ill. In addition, many millions of people in our world still experience unsanitary living conditions and lack access to much-needed medical resources, often of the most basic kind. The Church wishes to support the incurably and terminally ill by calling for just social policies which can help to eliminate the causes of many diseases and by urging improved care for the dying and those for whom no medical remedy is available”.In a particular way, we need to be concerned with the various ethical issues that seriously affect the health of our people – right from the first moment of conception until the end of life. Keeping this in mind, the F.I.A.M.C. Bio-Medical Ethics Centre has decided to start a newsletter entitled “Touching Lives”. This new initiative of the Centre would focus on healthcare issues which threaten and depersonalize human life. It would make an ethical analysis, in very simple language, of issues such as abortion, contraception, euthanasia, HIV/AIDS and child abuse and provide the teachings of the Church in these areas. In the light of public opinion being swayed by the mass media and other negative forces in society, there is an even greater need today to properly and effectively guide the consciences of people.
It is my hope that the newsletter will provide in-depth understanding and moral guidance of the ethical challenges in healthcare and thus serve those actively involved in hospital administration, medical centres, social work organizations and all health related bodies.
May Mary, Salus Infirmorum, comfort those who are ill and sustain all who have devoted their lives to healing the physical and spiritual wounds of those who suffer. May each of us truly follow the footsteps of Christ the Divine Healer and reach out to every sick and suffering person and touch their lives.
To each of you I joyfully impart my Blessing!
Oswald Cardinal Gracias
Patron, FIAMC Bio-Medical Ethics Centre, Mumbai
