Physician-Jesuit speaks after White Mass

The late Cardinal Joseph Bernardin is remembered fondly by Catholics for, among other things, his courageous end-of-life battle with cancer. Bishop Thomas John Paprocki speaks often with reverence for the prelate for whom he served as chancellor of the Archdiocese of Chicago. He is also revered by Father Myles Sheehan, SJ, who lauded the late prelate as he began his Oct. 15 presentation following the White Mass at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception.

“He [Cardinal Bernadin] talked extensively about the dangers of looking at medicine and the dangers of for-profit care,” said Father Sheehan. In remarks before a congress of the American Medical Association, Cardinal Bernadin said “Your profession and mine have much in common — namely, universal human need for healing and wholeness. What special qualities do medicine and ministry share? First, we are both engaged in something more than a profession. Ours is truly a vocation.”

Father Sheehan spoke of the words of Cardinal Bernardin in 1995 to the AMA. “Catholic health care has become more of a business than a ministry.  As health care has become increasingly expensive, quite complex, and ever more sophisticated, we necessarily have had to become more focused on economic, technological, systemic, and complex medical realities in a predominately acute care setting. Could it be, that despite our best intentions and efforts, these forces may distract us from an interiorization of the vision of health care as a a ministry of hope?”

Stepping delicately into the politics of health care, Father Sheehan declared that health care indeed is a human right. ”You can’t be pro-life if you don’t think health care is a basic human right.” But as Father Sheehan confessed, that’s where the matter becomes muddied. “I’m not wild about government interference, but at the same time, I am really happy that there are a lot more people that have insurance.”

In his remarks that followed Father Sheehan’s presentation, Bishop Paprocki acknowledged the depth of knowledge and perspective as both a priest and a physician. In addition, Bishop Paprocki noted that Father Sheehan’s presentation was made possible through the generosity of HSHS St. John’s Hospital, OSF Healthcare and the Catholic Medical Association.