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The fundamental reason the Catholic churches have been deeply involved in medical services for the past 2,000 years is to follow the life and act of Jesus Christ as the churches exist to represent the God, and the churches believe that the services should be offered to patients because the gifts of healing by the one Spirit (Ⅰ Corinthians 12:9) are given. In addition, as the Catholic church that should respect the lives of man God created in his own image (Genesis 1:27) and contribute to human maturity and social development, it is reasonable to take the initiatives in medical business that focuses on technical research and volunteer work.

Until the early 1980s, the church’s medical business was concentrated on volunteer medical services. This was because there were many poor people suffering from illnesses under the political, economic and social institutions where basic human rights were neglected and the churches had to take care of those people.

However, owing to a rapid social transition and socialization of medical business in 1980s, the social function of the church’s medical services has been reduced. It does not imply that the church’s social role in medical services has disappeared nor its existence for medical services has vanished.

As addressed by Pope John Paul II, “the modern medical science has become more significant than in the past for it relates to the education within community lives, holistic evaluation, correlative activities of the social structure, restoration of values that have transformed or been forgotten and placing a new meaning for our hope…”, the Catholic churches are obliged to prove the God’s existence through new levels of medical services. It is true that there are real difficulties in performing principled and conventional medical activities due to the diversity of contemporary medical services and professional management/operation.

Thus, we should be diligent in conducting our business with the management and operation systems in line with the modern medical business. We should strive for realizing the Catholic’s spirit of medical care based on a sound view on medical profession and strengthened sense of ethics. In this regard, we have established the “CMC Philosophy” with the perception and self-awareness that we should work and be trained in compliance with the set rules, validating the original mission that CMC should pursue and setting the medical institution’s missions that CMC aims for.

The CMC spirituality (or philosophy) is based upon alleviation of our people’s suffering from illnesses by embodying Jesus Christ the Healer within ourselves.
To fulfill the Philosophy, we are committed to instilling in our medical workers a sublime sense of mission, to studying and developing medical science and to providing medical services in the spirit of love.

The full text of <CMC Spirituality>is an outline of our fundamental spirit to reincarnate Jesus Christ the Healer within ourselves and our pledge to practice the philosophy with concrete volunteer medical services.

1. Jesus Christ the Healer

Jesus Christ devoted His whole life in alleviating and eradicating people’s pain. His trace for healing is expressed in the Bible.
Christ cleaned a leaper (Matthew 8:2-4), had the servant healed (Luke 7:1-10) and drove out demons from the sick as well as Simon’s mother in law (Mark 1:29-34). He also healed and cured a paralytic (Mark 2:1-12), a woman having a flow of blood (Luke 8:40-56) and the blind/deaf (Matthew 9:27-34), and saved a ruler’s dead daughter (Matthew 9:18-), widow’s son (Luke 7:11-17) and Lazarus (John 11:38-44).
His compassion and love for people were the fundamental motives of His act of curing and healing the sick.
Thus, healing is the fruit and consequence of love. If not driven from love and compassion, our care may be physical treatment, but not true healing.

2. Reincarnating Jesus Christ within ourselves

What does it mean to reincarnate or embody the spirit of Jesus Christ the Healer? Since the Catholic church’s establishment in the early years, it has revealed the God’s compassion and love for each individual through medical care for the poor. In other words, it struggled to follow the example of God healing the sick. Jesus Christ was not interested in the patient’s illness or its history for cures, but in the patient who was suffering the illness. He did not ask about symptoms, when and why it occurred or how painful it was. Instead, He had compassion for the sick suffering from pain, and spoke about the patient’s belief that may affect his/her life or the flaws that the patient has.
Christ wanted us to have perpetual lives and tried to teach us that it is God who heals all lives and illnesses, by curing the patient’s physical illness or mental distress.
Thus, following the example of our God in healing and curing the sick is to reincarnate Jesus Christ the Healer within ourselves.

3. Practice Will

The latter part of the full text suggests our practice will and intention. That is, it expresses our will to foster medical professionals with a sublime sense of mission, strive for medical development and conduct medical researches, offer more quality medical services based on holistic therapy and perform pastoral care and charitable activities with human love and missionary spirit.

About 200 years have passed since the Catholic church was first introduced to Korea. We have paid special attention to the poor from the early stage of our missionary work and have never neglected caring for patients.
Accordingly, the local churches and religious orders established and operated volunteer medical facilities for patients with economic difficulties and who had no one to rely on. In particular, St. Mary’s Hospital opened in 1936, which contributed to offering quality medical services. Meanwhile, the College of Medicine was installed to cultivate medical workers based on the Catholic spirit and CMC (Catholic Medical Center) was established in 1962 to supervise the college of medicine and affiliated hospitals. CMC has been leading the medical industry with the first medical institution system in Korea.

CMC has been conducting medical activities that meet the demand of the times, including education, research and medical treatment projects for public health and medical improvement based on the Catholic spirit, and its activities set an example to other medical institutions.
However, we should keep in mind that we may neglect our original mission and concrete roles for our society as the center gradually grows bigger and owing to rapid changes to the medical environment.

We will endeavor to alleviate our patient’s physical sickness and mental distress, and offer constant prayers and medical services, in order to inculcate in the minds of our patients and their family members as well as in our hearts the firm belief that it is only God that cures us.

Particular 1 expresses our pledge on the firm belief of God who is the true Healer and holistic therapy.
All faculty and medical staffs working for CMC and affiliated hospitals are the medical apostles as well as volunteer healers. We struggle to embody Jesus Christ the Healer within ourselves and offer quality medical services for those suffering from illnesses. We should have the firm belief that we are vehicles to His healing and it is only God who cures people.

1. Holistic Therapy

A disease affects one’s body and mind.
The body may impact the mind, and vice versa.
Therefore, a complete healing is realized only when both physical illness and mental distress are removed.

When Jesus Christ cured all types of diseases, including leprosy, cerebral palsy and mental illnesses, He did not merely cure the diseases, but had an insight into the sick’s psychological disorder. In other words, God applied holistic therapy with love for people.

Patients do not simply show various symptoms or abnormal functions caused by damages to the organs, or mental disabilities. We should always keep in mind that they have fear, hope, and strong will to escape from pain.

The psychological aspect is highly important in the healing process. Thus, with the troubled mind, a complete healing may not be realized. Medical workers should gain patients’ trust for their state of balance.

Medical workers should be proper in behaviors and polite, and explain the patient’s disease in details as much as possible. We should endeavor to fulfill holistic therapy with love for people taking into account of the people’s spiritual, psychological and physical aspects.

2. Jesus Christ the Healer

We should humbly accept that it is God who cures us and we are just taking part in His healing scheme. We should also assist patients and their families to have the same belief.

Since God wanted us to have perpetual lives, He tried to teach us that it is God who saves us from diseases, curing the sick’s physical illnesses or mental distress.

Thus, He always questioned patients or their caregivers as follows to perform the miracle of healing and aimed for the patient’s or family’s peace: “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” (encouraging the faith); “Your faith has healed you.”; “It will be done just as you believed it would.”; and “Take heart. Your sins are forgiven” (confirmation of the faith).
Thus, we should support our patients with the belief that ‘it is God that cures us’ and have patients accept the consequence of treatment led by Jesus Christ.

3. Firm belief on treatment

It seems that we know a great deal about the living creature’s autopsy, physiological, pathological and treatment procedures, but we come to realize that we know only a part of the whole procedures as we consider them deeply. In other words, we become aware that we have limits to the knowledge and technology.

There are a lot of diseases that may be cured by the modern medical science, but there are numerous ones that cannot be treated even with the latest techniques and knowledge.

We sometimes experience unexpected healing that cannot be explained with the current medical knowledge. Thus, we should keep in mind that the God’s will may not match with ours, and have God cure the sick with prayers. We should provide medical services with the belief that God is always with us.

We will foster competent medical professionals with new knowledge and techniques, and educate them so that they are care for patients with a profoundly generous spirit following Jesus Christ.

Particular 2 addresses CMC’s will to foster competent medical professionals with love for patients. We pledge to cultivate medical professionals with the cutting-edge medical techniques from the college of medicine and CMC, as well as to educate them to become medical service providers who practice the God’s love.

1. Fostering competent medical professionals

Fostering competent doctors and nurses from the college of medicine/nursing at the Catholic University of Korea is one of the most important things CMC should do.

CMC should provide the best educational programs for doctors and nurses that graduate from the Catholic University of Korea to complete their duties with confidence and to become medical professionals leading activities to promote residents’ health. We promise that we would struggle to introduce new methodology on medical education and develop facilities and human resources.

Additionally, all staffs working for CMC will be properly educated and trained for new knowledge and technology that may be required for both treatment and general hospital life.

2. R&D for advanced medical science

We would endlessly put efforts into fostering competent medical professionals and offering the best medical services. We also have the pride that we are as good as the other medical institutions in Korea. It is needless to say that our pledge and self-esteem have encouraged us to lead R&D for advanced medical science.

CMC has been supporting the faculty for overseas training and special R&D through a scholarship program, and actively encouraging researchers to submit outstanding research papers for international medical journals. We promise that we will do our best for CMC to gain wide publicity in Korea and overseas through R&D efforts and greatly contribute to health promotion of the community and mankind.

3. Establishing the concept of the competent that practice the God’s love

It goes without saying that all medical activities the Catholic church is engaged in are ultimately intended to spread the messages of Jesus Christ.
Therefore, CMC should aim for medical education emphasizing personality education, and all of our medical activities should be practicing the God’s love.

The Catholic University of Korea has more regular courses on medical ethics than any other college of medicine, and CMC is paying special attention to pastoral care and hospice activities at the hospital. These are all based on our spirit described above.

It is difficult to say that the concept of competent medical professional with love for patients is realized with a couple of lectures on ethics or volunteer work by the pastoral care teams. However, it is extremely significant to ruminate the CMC’s philosophy and practice will with education on medical ethics and volunteer work.
Our pledge for all CMC workers to become medical professionals who practice the God’s love forms the backbone of realizing spirituality that CMC seeks.

We will do our utmost to prevent, cure and eradicate diseases, and to fully rehabilitate our patients. However, we will never conduct any research that my impair the mystery and dignity of human lives.

Particular 3 states that CMC does not simply function to treat diseases, but it further prevents diseases, rehabilitate patients and protect our lives. Our life is given by God; thus it cannot be rejected or destroyed. Particular 3 specifies that CMC comes up with the best ways to support and protect our precious lives. Furthermore, it clearly states that there should be no act against the mystery and dignity of human lives, even when applying the most cutting-edge techniques.

1. The best medical care or service

The best medical care or service refers to a comprehensive treatment, including the advanced medical techniques and psychotherapy.

To do so, we will endeavor to provide quality medical services by continuously obtaining the latest medical information and taking part in training programs. We will be fully armed with the sense of ethical mission and never give up patients under any circumstance.

Men are equal when it comes to human dignity. Thus, we should struggle to offer high-quality medical services for all classes of patients on earth.

CMC is equipped with the latest medical diagnosis and treatment facilities and all CMC workers will put efforts to apply holistic therapy based on humanity.

2. Prevention and rehabilitation

It is more advisable to prevent than to cure diseases. It is necessary to organize educational programs for residents and spread medical information using various media so as to prevent a wide range of communicable or adult diseases, as well as to prevent accidents and industrial accidents.

Recently, there are an increasing number of people who need assistance owing to increased accidents and higher survival rate caused by medical development, and the number of seniors, as the average life expectancy extended, skyrocketed. It has, thus, become a social responsibility to solve the rehabilitation issue of the physically or mentally-challenged.

The physically or mentally-challenged who need support are still regarded as patients, and it is a new medical concept that they are subjects for rehabilitation. Improving their living conditions through rehabilitation corresponds with the Catholic spirit that puts stress on a living worthy of human dignity.

3. Prohibiting researches that may impair human dignity

Continuous medical development is essential to protect people from diseases and enhance life values. However, any research that impairs the mystery and dignity of human lives in the process of medical development is contrary to the spirit of Catholic.

For instance, artificial conception control, artificial fertilization, artificial termination of pregnancy and euthanasia, not in compliance with the laws of nature, are considered as acts that impair the mystery or dignity of human lives. On the contrary, hospice care that supports terminally-ill patients to face death calmly plays an important role in upholding human dignity.

Organ transplants should be encouraged for it is a noble act to save one’s life, but organ sales should not be permitted. We should never tolerate any experiment on human with drugs or surgery that may harm the body as well as direct experiment on a human body that may threaten one’s life because it is an act of impairing human dignity.

We will be guidance to our patients who have recovered to newly experience the God’s love and become His children. We will also help dying patients to retain a sense of hope and maintain their basic human dignity.

Particular 4 specifies CMC’s roles as the church’s medical institution on pastoral care and volunteer hospice work especially for terminally-ill patients. We should understand the meaning of illnesses and pain as part of the God’s salvation plan, assist patients to feel the God’s love in the pain or healing process, and be aware that death is not the end or failure of one’s life, but it is the last healing and completion of life. That is why CMC regards pastoral and hospice care important as part of the holistic therapy.

1. Experiencing the God’s love with recovery

Jesus had compassion on them (Matthew 20:34) and healed them.

His act as the Healer does not imply that all diseases in the world have disappeared, but shows that the God’s ability to completely eradicate diseases when the world ends is realized through Jesus Christ.
There is only one thing that Jesus wanted from patients. He told them that the faith will do everything for them (Matthew 9:28; Mark 5:36; Luke 8:50 and 9:23).
Therefore, the miracle of healing is like getting a glimpse of the complete state that mankind will experience in the kingdom of God. A miraculous power of healing as a sign of the God’s kingdom will make us more mature and realize the God’s love and mercy.

Medical workers should support patients in the healing process to experience the God’s love through diseases and pain, to get more mature as human-beings, and to believe and feel the God’s mercy (John 15:7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given to you).

2. Meaning and mystery of death

We all face death. The Bible does not avoid talking about death and calmly accept death. We should all cope with death as everyone will ‘see death’ (Psalms 89:49; Luke 2:26; John 8:51) and ‘taste death’ (Matthew 16:28; Mark 9:1; Luke 9:27; John 8:52; Hebrews 2:9). Before Jesus came to the world, our life only had the futility of death and tragedy. As He passed away, He overcame death. The death of Jesus Christ presented a new meaning for the Catholic, ‘dying with Jesus Christ for an eternal with Him’.

Jesus Christ who lived like us within our history died and freed us and Himself from death. There are medical conditions that lead to a patient’s death and it cannot be prevented with our modern medical science. We should not think that it is a failed treatment. Instead, we should regard death as a reality and process of our life. Death is the ultimate maturity that a person can reach as well as the final healing of a disease. We should make every effort to help the terminally-ill patients to accept their death with dignity.

3. Practicing God’s love with pastoral and hospice care

Jesus Christ called his twelve disciples and gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and illness (Matthew 10:1) and promised that in His name they will drive out demons, they will speak in new tongues, they will place their hands on sick people and they will get well (Mark 16:17-18) before Ascensions. The Acts of the Apostles delivers several miraculous stories that reveal authenticity of Jesus’ resurrection and the power in Him name (Acts 3:1-3; 8:7; 9:32-34; 14:8-10; 28:8-9).

Thus, all CMC workers should perform their duties with love that God showed and regard them as a part of the missionary work.

All our medical staffs and pastoral care team as well as all departments should be aware and have pride that we are practicing God’s love through duties, prayers and liturgy for the Catholic spirit to indwell.

We will pay attention to and care for patients who are poor and have no persons to depend upon, and to make every effort to ensure that these patients receive heart-warming medical services.

Particular 5 expresses CMC’s practice will for offering charitable medical services and evangelical approach to management as the church’s medical institution. As the word of God shows, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free” (Luke 4:18), Jesus Christ proclaimed messages to the poor. Particular 5 is based on this fact. Offering charitable medical services for patients who cannot afford medical expenses is embodying Jesus Christ who was a genuine friend to the poor, and the messages of Jesus Christ can be well-delivered through such services.
However, we should keep in mind that both givers and receivers realize the true meaning of poverty and charitable activities, and properly conducting them, and at the same time, we should endeavor to purely follow the God’s messages.

1. The poor

In general, there are not many people who think that they are rich. There are a lot of poor people around us suffering from material and economic difficulties, prevented from getting what they need. Broadly, it may include freedom, happiness and success. Then, it would be difficult to find those who are not considered poor.

Therefore, poverty mentioned in Particular 5 is limited to material and financial difficulties. Along with this, it is necessary for us to clarify the concept of poverty according the Bible’s teachings.

According to the words of Gods, poverty has several meanings.

As His words tell us, “Blessed are the poor in spirit!” (Matthew 5:2) and “Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.” (Philippians 2:6-7), the spiritually poor who can get rid of the ceaseless greed for material are those who can accept the messages from God.

Thus, the actual ‘poor’ stated in Bible are those with economic difficulties who need help as well as the spiritual poor and those without the God’s messages who may receive charitable services.

When they are spiritually and evangelically poor, we will be happy to assist the poor with economic difficulties.

Thus, “All the believers were together and had everything in common.”(Acts 2:44) does not mean ‘giving up one’s ownership’, but ‘joining ownership of property’ for the purpose of helping the poor within the community in cooperation with others so that it can be shared together.

In this regard, the meaning of relative poverty where all are considered poor is sublimated into the meaning of spiritually and evangelically poor. “The poor” can be defined as the poor with economic difficulties and those who can help the poor without greed.

2. Charitable medical services

Charity is to share one’s property with the poor. However, charitable services may be more effective with institutions and organizations because there are too many poor people.

To offer charitable services, we need people who achieved material success. Jesus warned several times about being rich (Matthew 19:24; 8:36). They were intended for us to realize how dangerous wealth can be and to conduct charitable activities. The rich should continuously practice charity for our neighbors in need. Choosing the ones who need support should be more fair and reasonable.

The medical institution should be a poor community, and it can be only realized when charitable medical services are generously offered to patients with economic difficulties based on the ‘spiritual poverty’. Of course, any poor patient who does not have to pay the entire or partial medical expenses should receive the same medial services offered to general patients.

The meaning of charitable activities should be expanded outside the medical institution. It is difficult for hospitals to practice charity only with the revenue from medical expenses. Medical workers should actively participate in fund-raising campaigns and the church community should share the burden of charity by making investments on charitable activities, just like investing in other projects.

Introducing or delivering poor patients to a hospital is not a true charitable act. It is unfair for an individual to use the hospital’s facilities and items for personal charitable activities.

3. Evangelical approach to management

The medical institution is a community managed with medical expenses from patients and offerings from the persons of good intent, and the genuine owner of the hospital is our God. Thus, its user is just a socially and legally-specified owner, not a true owner. The legal owner is authorized to act on behalf of God and should be aware that the owner is obliged to properly fulfill the original owner’s will.

The legal owner should make every effort to purchase good medical facilities and equipment required for patient treatment, foster medical professionals with love for patients, aim for the best management for R&D of medical science, and arrive at effective investments.

The faculty and medical staffs should receive a suitable compensation and the hospital should be devoted to support them in good faith.

The faculty and medical staffs should have a sense of ownership and endeavor to lead common good of the hospital with users.

We should creatively and diligently perform the assigned duties, and strive to become the spiritually poor.