Helpful Links

National Catholic Medical Association:	JUST ONE MORE "Come follow me and I will send you out to fish for people. At once they left their nets and followed him. (Mt. 4: 19-20) The Catholic Medical Association is a physician-led community of healthcare professionals that informs, organizes, and inspires its members, in steadfast fidelity to the teachings of the Catholic Church, to uphold the principles of the Catholic faith in the science and practice of medicine. The Catholic Medical Association helps physicians grow in the spirit of Christ in their personal and professional lives, so they can bring His Spirit to the science and art of medicine. With membership, you will transform your personal and professional life and can then trans-form the world. We seek to change the heart in health care. We are truly grateful for memberships in our organization. We appreciate the time you may give to support the CMA, along with your support in prayer, your participation in local and national events and any financial contributions given as a member. As Christ called His disciples one by one to build His church, we ask you to invite just one colleague to join the Catholic Medical Association. JUST ONE MORE!
Diocese of Buffalo:
National Catholic Bioethics Center:	The National Catholic Bioethics Center (NCBC), established in 1972, conducts research, consultation, publishing and education to promote human dignity in health care and the life sciences, and derives its message directly from the teachings of the Catholic Church.

Articles & Presentations

USCCB's Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services

Charter for Health Care Workers (published at the initiative of the Pontifical Council for Pastoral Assistance to Health Care Workers)

A Charter for Healthcare Workers (Powerpoint)

Audio

The Catholic Medical Association has produced radio ads regarding the physical and mentally damaging effects of abortion, in order to spread awareness about the issue of abortion today. You can listen to these ads below:

1. Psychological Effects

2. Intimacy Emotional Effects

3. Depression, Anxiety, Substance Abuse, & Suicidal Effects

Prayers

Prayer of the Catholic Physician

Lord Jesus,

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.

The Vatican, 29 June 2000

John Paul II

Prayer for Those with Profound Disabilities

Lord Jesus Christ,

You know the pain of brokenness. You took our weaknesses upon your shoulders and bore it to the wood of the cross. Hear our prayers for our brothers and sisters whose bodies fail them and whose minds are crippled by the ravages of disease. Implant a love for them deep within our hearts, that we, disfigured and disabled by our sin, may treasure and nurture the gifts of their lives. May we find You in their weakness, and console You in our care for them. For You are Lord, forever and ever. Amen

Prayer for Those Close to Death

Lord Jesus Christ,

As You stood by the bed of good Saint Joseph and gently led him home to heaven, so shepherd every soul about to die to a paradise of perfect peace. Let the tears we shed upon their passing stand witness to our love for them and the depth or our thanksgiving for the gift of their lives and the grace of a good death. For You are Lord, forever and ever. Amen

A Catholic Hippocratic Oath

As a Physician, I solemnly promise:

To continually improve my professional abilities, in order to give my patients the best care I can.
To respect my patients as human persons, putting their interests ahead of political and economic considerations, and to treat them without prejudice arising from religion, racial, ethnic, socio-economic or sexual differences.
To defend and protect human life from conception to its natural end, believing that human life, transmitted by parents, is created by God and has an eternal destiny that belongs to Him.
To refuse to become an instrument of violent or oppressive applications of medicine.
To serve the public health, promoting healthful policies respectful of life and the dignity and nature of the human person.
To cooperate with the applications of just law, except on the grounds of conscientious objection when the civil law does not respect human rights, especially the right to life.
To work with openness toward every person, independently of their religious beliefs.
To donate part of my time for free and charitable care of the poor.

In order to achieve these goals, as a Catholic Doctor I also promise:

To recognize the Word of God as the inspiration of all my actions, to be faithful to the teachings of the Church and to form my professional conscience in accord with them.
To cultivate a filial relationship with God, nourished by prayer, and to be a faithful witness of Christ.
To practice Catholic moral principles, in particular those related to bio-medical ethics.
To refrain from prescribing or referring for hormonal or barrier forms of contraception.
To refrain from performing or referring for abortion, sterilization, or in vitro fertilization.
To refrain from prescribing or administering medication with the intention of hastening death.
To express the benevolence of Christ in my life, and in my relationships with patients, colleagues and society.
To participate in the evangelization of the suffering world, in cooperation with the pastoral ministry of the Church.