Called to Heal: Parallelisms Between the Catholic Faith and the Art of Medicine

The medical profession and modern healthcare have their origins in Catholicism, with numerous influences and similarities between these two fields. Medicine is, in essence, a vocation the lay physician is called to, akin in many ways to the Catholic priest. This article seeks to explore the numerous associations between medicine and Catholicism, drawing upon previously described examples, and expounding upon comparisons and how they might apply to the Catholic lay physician. The parallelisms between the Catholic physician and priest, the operating room and the Mass, the clinic and the confessional, and God's physical healing and God's spiritual healing are many. Priests are called to be in persona Christi capitis during the Mass. Catholic lay physicians are called to be God's instrument of healing in both the operating room and the clinic. We are all called to be Christ's presence to others. In realizing this unique role entrusted to the Catholic physician, may we all strive to remember the dignity of each patient we treat and approach our vocation with a profound reverence for our fellow man, created in God's image.