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The Saving Works of
Catholic Healthcare
A Pastoral Message from the Bishops of Alberta
In Support of our Faith-Based Institutions
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
On this special occasion of the World Day of the Sick we invite the
faithful to support the saving works of Catholic healthcare, which bear
witness to and continue the healing ministry of Jesus. Care of
the sick belongs to the mission of the Church in which we are united by
faith. Therefore, we all have a responsibility to uphold the
continued presence and flourishing in our province of Catholic
healthcare, which brings essential and irreplaceable value to our
healthcare system through provision of quality, compassionate, and
holistic care to all.
The World Day of the Sick reminds us of our duty to stand in solidarity
with all those afflicted with chronic or incurable diseases, a call
that stems from our Lord’s own words recorded in the Gospel of Matthew,
“I was sick, and you cared for me” (Mt 25:36). In our Catholic
healthcare institutions, we respond to this call in a manner that
affirms the human dignity of the patient and offers to the sick and
dying a reason to hope.
We can justly call healthcare a saving work. The word “salvation” has
its etymological root in the Latin salvus, meaning “well” or “sound”.
Catholic healthcare is a saving work dedicated to the wellbeing of the
total person. It is committed to a holistic vision that embraces the
mind, body and spirit of the patient, who is always to be treated with
the utmost respect. Those tireless individuals who devote their
life to providing such holistic care are the arms and hands of
Christ. Physicians, nurses, therapists, chaplains, social
workers, volunteers, families, priests and pastoral volunteers are the
very face of Christ to the sick and witness to the good news of His
presence and love. This is the transformative dimension of
healing to which Catholic healthcare gives witness, often articulated
as the “something different” about our institutions.
In his first encyclical letter, entitled Deus Caritas Est (God is
Love), Pope Benedict XVI addresses the insufficiency of having only the
required technical skills in the work of caring for others. In
addition is required a “formation of the heart” that gives birth to a
genuine love for the other (cf. no. 31). We recognize that our
continued efforts to develop the technical competencies necessary for
quality care must always be joined to an unwavering commitment to
provide compassionate service to all.
This is the legacy of the religious Sisters who founded healthcare in
Alberta. They were singularly focused upon providing the best
quality standards to the vulnerable persons who sought their care at
the same time as they offered them real hope through witness to the
love of Christ. Catholic healthcare has continued this tradition,
and we as Albertans should be forever grateful for the role of the
Sisters, and those who follow in their footsteps today, in promoting
this balanced human approach of quality care and compassionate service.
Efforts to ensure a just and viable allocation of financial resources
and governance oversight in support of faith-based healthcare in this
province require the Catholic community to lend its public voice.
We the Bishops of Alberta are committed to supporting faith-based
healthcare. The entire community of the faithful must always be
ready to advocate on behalf of Catholic healthcare to ensure the
continued presence of our institutions into the future.
The Bishops of Alberta
11, February, 2008
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Most Reverend Richard W. Smith
Archbishop of Edmonton
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Most Reverend Frederick B. Henry
Bishop of Calgary
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Most Reverend Luc Bouchard
Bishop of Saint-Paul
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Most Reverend David Motiuk
Eparchial Bishop of Edmonton
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Most Reverend Gérard Pettipas, C.Ss.R.
Archbishop of Grouard-McLennan
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Most Reverend Murray Chatlain
Bishop of Mackenzie-Fort Smith
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