“Truth and Integrity in Medicine” is the theme of this year’s Catholic Medical Association of Australia conference, to be held in Melbourne in October.
Innocuous as those words might seem, in today’s climate they can be dangerous, says the CMAA chair, Dr Eamonn Mathieson.
“Many doctors that have spoken what is true in the public space are being sanctioned,” says Mathieson.
“To speak about the Catholic understanding about the truth of the human person, whether it’s in the context of abortion, whether it’s in the context of gender, can invite professional sanction and notifications from regulatory authorities.”
The two-day national conference will be held on the weekend of 18 and 19 October at St Peter’s Parish Centre in Toorak.
On the evening before, the CMAA will also host the annual Nicholas Tonti-Filippini Oration, to be given this year by Sydney Archbishop Anthony Fisher. His topic will be “Reflections on Evangelism Vitae and Australian Culture – 30 years on.”
The conference features a stellar line-up of speakers on issues ranging from dark and controversial, like euthanasia, abortion, pornography and gender medicine to inspirational, like the legacy of Catholic nun and doctor Mary Glowrey, holistic mental health care, and a scientific perspective on Eucharistic miracles.
It will be a sort of “Dantean progression,” with a “transition that moves from the darkness of the Inferno through Purgatorio and into Paradiso,” says Mathieson.
Among the speakers are Professor David Kissane, an internationally-renowned expert on end-of-life care, and Professor Hayden Ramsey, president of the Catholic Institute of Sydney.
About a hundred people are expected to attend.
State associations of Catholic doctors began in the 1930s, but faded in recent years. The CMAA is a national body which was launched in 2018 and has been endorsed by the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference.
It aims to provide mutual support and education for its members, as well as lobbying for a Catholic view on controversial issues in medical ethics.
It is a challenging time to work as a healthcare professional. As Mathieson says, “most of the political and cultural battles seem to be almost all centred around healthcare”.
“A lot of practitioners feel quite isolated and alone in the current secular culture and society,” Mathieson told The Catholic Weekly. “They are looking for some solidarity, support, reassurance and networking with like-minded, faith-filled individuals to give each other support.”
