04/20/2021
Overview on the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith letter Samaritanus bonus: on the care of persons in the critical and terminal phases of life
This installment will go over Section V: The Teaching of the Magisterium – Part 12: The reform of the education and formation of the healthcare workers & the Conclusion
Section V – Part 12
In today’s social and cultural context, with so many challenges to the protection of human life in its most critical stages, education has a critical role to play. Families, schools, other educational institutions, and parish communities must work to awaken and refine that sensitivity toward our neighbor and their suffering as manifested by the Good Samaritan of the Gospel. Hospital chaplains should intensify the moral formation of healthcare workers to prepare them to provide the human assistance necessary in the terminal stages of life of the patient as well as for their families. These healthcare workers should be provided with accurate information on the value of effective palliative care to accompany the person until a natural death in a dignified manner. In addition, healthcare and assistance organizations must provide psychological and spiritual aids to healthcare workers who care for the terminally ill, so they do not bear all the weight of the suffering and death of incurable patients. They need a profound sense of hope, along with the awareness that their own mission is a true vocation to accompany the mystery of life and grace in the painful and terminal stages of existence.
Conclusion
The mystery of the Redemption of the human person is in an astonishing way rooted in the loving involvement of God with human suffering. That is why we can entrust ourselves to God and to convey this certainty in faith to the person who is suffering and fearful of pain and death. Christian witness demonstrates that hope is always possible. It is not enough, however, to share their pain; one needs to immerse oneself in the fruits of the Paschal Mystery of Christ who conquers sin and death, with the will “to dispel the misery of another, as if it were his own”. The greatest misery consists in the loss of hope in the face of death. This hope is proclaimed by the Christian witness, which, to be effective, must be lived in faith and encompass everyone—families, nurses, and physicians. It must engage the pastoral resources of the diocese and of Catholic healthcare centers, which are called to live with faith the duty to accompany the sick in all the stages of illness, and in particular in the critical and terminal stages of life as defined in this letter.
Healed by Jesus, we become men and women called to proclaim his healing power to love and provide the care for our neighbors to which He bore witness. That the vocation to the love and care of another brings with it the rewards of eternity is made explicit by the Lord of life in the parable of the final judgment: inherit the kingdom, for I was sick, and you visited me. When did we do this, Lord? Every time you did it for the least ones, for a suffering brother or sister, you did it for me (cf. Mt 25: 31-46).
This concludes the summary of Samaritanus bonus: on the care of persons in the critical and terminal phases of life. Please let me know if there are additional documents you would like to see summarized or topics you would like discussed.
