The Pope established the Catholic Medical Foundation to provide financial assistance to the medical institutions of the Church and safeguard the charity of the founders of the medical institutions. This new institution will be headed by Bishop Galantino, chairman of the Pontifical Administration of Property.
(Vatican News Network)Pope Francis established the “Catholic Medical Foundation” on October 6 by means of an autograph letter. The organization must provide “church medical institutions with financial support to maintain the charity of the founders of these institutions, keep them in the church’s network of similar charitable institutions, and follow the guidelines of the church’s social guidance and focus on their charitable purposes.”
The background that prompted the Pope to make this decision is that the crisis has affected various medical institutions managed by different religious congregations. These institutions are often unsustainable, and the result is to sell them.
The Pope wrote that the Vatican’s new foundation is “an institution related to the Holy See” and therefore “can operate under its highest authority. The foundation, as a tool of the Pontifical Property Administration, will be subject to the Pontifical Property Management In addition, the pope approved the constitution of the foundation. The new foundation is headed by Bishop Nunzio Galantino, the chairman of the Pontifical Property Administration.
The statutory goal of the foundation is to support and revitalize medical institutions owned or managed by church institutions, and to raise the necessary financial resources from private donors, public and private institutions. The foundation will perform various tasks in accordance with the national laws of the location of each medical institution, and strive to ensure compliance with the church’s social guidance and economic sustainability. In this way, when Catholic medical affairs are difficult to move forward due to various reasons, they will be able to avoid making too hasty choices.
Bishop Galantino explained to this news network, “The danger we are trying to avoid is that these medical institutions have consciously or unconsciously promoted the elite concept of medical services, reducing the space for caring for everyone.”
Earlier, Pope Francis made his first public appearance on the balcony of the hospital on Sunday 11th after undergoing intestinal surgery at Rome’s Gemelli General Hospital on July 4 this year. He said, “I experienced the importance of good healthcare services when I was receiving treatment in the hospital.” “A free medical care ensures that everyone receives good services. We must not lose this precious well-being and need to protect it.” The Pope pointed out that this requires the efforts of everyone, “because it serves everyone and needs everyone. Contribute oneself”.
After the Pope encouraged doctors, all health care professionals and hospital staff, he added, “In the church, sometimes some medical institutions are poorly managed and financially poor. Therefore, the first thing that comes to mind is to sell it. But. The church’s vocation is not to make money, but to provide services, and services are always free. Don’t forget this: let us protect public institutions that provide free services.”
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