F.I.A.M.C.
Fédération Internationale des Associations de Médecins Catholiques
World Federation of Catholic Medical Associations
http://www.fiamc.org
Palazzo San Calisto, 00120 Vatican City
Phone/Fax +39 06 6988 7372


FROM LIFE TO LIFE
JOHN PAUL II CALLED HOME BY THE HEAVENLY FATHER THE CATHOLIC DOCTORS REMEMBER THE GREAT WITNESS OF CHRIST
FIAMC PRAYS FOR THE FRIEND OF THE PATIENTS AND OF THEIR DOCTORS

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

Pope John Paul II Magnus (The Great) ended yesterday night his earthly journey and was called back home by our Heavenly Father.
Since October 16th 1978, in the middle of the winds of stormy changes, John Paul II has been the helmsman which leads with steadfast hand Peter's boat towards the open sea: Duc in altum!

For more than 26 years, he led the Church in the midst of events which not only marked the history of the world, but were also responsible for deep transformations in science and in medical practice. During this long time, the word of the Pope enlightened the minds and the hearts of health professionals and of the people of God on issues concerning health, life, health care assistance, biomedical sciences, bioethics, and profession to doctors and the other health care workers.
In the course of the past 26 years the word of the Pope has been a constant point of reference for medical doctors and the whole world of health.

We appreciated the abundance of his Magisterium on the issues related to our profession, starting from "Salvifici Doloris", the first pontifical document on the theological value of suffering, and from the great Encyclical "Evangelium Vitae", a true magna charta for all those who put their profession at the service of human life.

We will never forget that the first of these two documents was released to satisfy the request presented by FIAMC at the end of its XV World Congress in Rome, in October 1982.

We admired his love for the sick in the many meetings he had with the sick and disabled and in the visits to Hospitals in Rome and in many parts of the world, starting with the first day after his election, when he left the Vatican to visit a friend of him, Msgr. Deskur, in a Roman hospital.

We rejoiced in receiving the motu proprio "Dolentium Hominum" with which, for the first time in the history of the Church, an organic and coordinated work was started on a world wide scale in the field of the Health Pastoral, and the motu proprio "Vitae Mysterium", with which the Pontifical Academy for Life was established.

We were filled with joy also at seeing him raise to the honour of the altars some significant figures of doctors of the present day, such as Giuseppe Moscati, Riccardo Pampuri, Gianna Beretta Molla, Pere Tarrès.
In the course of the last few years, we participated, in the dioceses and on a world scale, in the celebration of the Day of the Sick, contributing to give life to a positive intuition of his, intending to bring to the attention of the authorities, of public opinion, and of the Church the suffering man, icon of Christus patiens.

He granted special audiences to FIAMC four times: during the XV World Congress in 1982, when he moved from the Vatican to come in the Congress site; during the Congress of the Great Jubilee in 2000, two days after receiving the prayer he had composed for us; on the occasion of the 1st International Workshop of Catholic Obstetrician/Gynaecologists in 2001; and
at the end of the Congress on Vegetative State in 2004.

We received from the Pope, in the course of the Great Jubilee of the year 2000, the Prayer of the Doctor, which we had asked and which was specifically composed for us, daily source of inspiration and comfort in the hardships and dilemmas of our profession.

Above all, the Holy Father has been for us a Teacher on the desk of suffering, since the days when someone attempted to take his life in 1981, when, together with so many people from all over the world, we prayed that Divine Mercy and Mary's intercession could save his life for the good of the Church, and, thanks to God, our prayers were answered.

These few words are sufficient to point out the great and lasting attention that the Pope has paid in these years of Pontificate to the issues of medicine. However, it is only by going back and reading his speeches and writings that it is possible to fully grasp the love and esteem with which he has surrounded our profession.

A love and an esteem arrived to the point of going to Prof. Crucitti's home to visit, after his death, the surgeon who had operated him after the shooting and of kneeling on the tomb of his friend Prof. Lejeune in Paris.
A love and an esteem which are certainly due to his awareness that the problems of birth, of suffering and of death are at the center of man's religious experience and that the way in which they are faced is the measure to evaluate the level of civilization of human societies.
They are, however, also the esteem and love which come from a man who is personally deeply marked by the experience of suffering and is able, therefore, to fully appreciate the value of the medical art and the importance of health care and of scientific and biomedical research.
It was his love for those who suffer and for their doctors, that we intended to witness with the CD released on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of his election.

Not only John Paul II marked the history of the XX century. More importantly he marked the hearts and the spirits of many people. You will apologize if, in this moment of profound emotion, I recall at this point some personal memories.
I was in the middle of the crowd on October 16th 1978, when the joyful news, Habemus Papam, was announced to the huge people gathered in St. Peter's Square in the beautiful and warm evening typical of the Roman autumn. After the very first words with which, unexpectedly, he decided to address the crowd, I felt clearly that a new wind was inflating the sails of the the Church's boat. Every fear of the future, every feeling of inferiority in front of modern times and cultures had vanished all of a sudden. For those who had not yet understood it became clear a few days later, during his first pontifical Mass, when he said aloud: Don't be afraid!

I was taking part in a debate in a television in the afternoon of May 13th 1981. There was at that time the campaign for the referendum on the abortion law in Italy. The broadcasting of the debate was interrupted abruptly to announce the news of the shooting in St. Peter's Square. A few days later, I had the opportunity to make one of the deepest spiritual experiences of my
life. In his room at the Gemelli Hospital, I had the privilege to assist to the Mass that he concelebrated with his personal secretary, dressing only the liturgical stole above his hospital clothes. No word was said, but his face transmitted an unforgettable spiritual message of abandonment to the will of God and to the love of Mary. Before he left the hospital I could meet him once again and I will never forget the eyes with which he looked at me, captured by a photographer.

During the following years,  I attended many times his services in St. Peter's and once I could also attend his private morning Mass in his private chapel. Thanks to my service in the Italian Association of Catholic Doctors, there were many opportunities to meet him, also personally, and  I had the possibility of reading and of present the offerings during his Masses. But it was only after becoming the President of FIAMC that I had the privilege of presenting him the address of FIAMC on three occasions.
He has blessed personally my wife and all of my five children. As a specialist in Neurology, I was taught every day by the strength, dignity and serenity with which he faced the illness that has been a companion for him during the last years. He granted me an undeserved honor when he appointed me an ordinary member of the Pontifical Academy for Life. His Pontificate coincided exactly with the entire second half of my life and  marked profoundly my spiritual, familial and professional life.
Thanks you Holy Father for all your gifts. You have been for us a true father and a great teacher. The Catholic Doctors are sure you are already contemplating the face of Christ in the Heavenly Jerusalem. We pray that the Church will soon recognize you among the Saints. We pray that you continue to intercede for us and for our patients.
 

In Paradisum deducant te Angeli. In tuo adventu suscipiant te Martyres et perducant te in Civitatem Sanctam Jerusalem.

Gian Luigi Gigli, MD

President of FIAMC
Udine, 3 April 2005