Bala Cynwyd, PA – The Catholic Medical Association (CMA) concluded its largest and most successful conference ever on Saturday, September 29, 2012, hosting a record number of medical students and passing two important resolutions, one on the HHS mandate and a second on traditional marriage.
The 81st annual educational conference of the Catholic Medical Association was held at Saint Paul, Minnesota, from September 27–29, 2012, with a record-setting audience of over 600 people. Doctors, healthcare professionals, priests, religious, and students from over 40 states came for a unique experience of faith, formation, and fellowship. Each day of the conference included the Rosary, confession, Mass, and Eucharistic Adoration. World-class speakers, including George Weigel, Fr. Robert Spitzer, S.J., Fr. Brian Mullady, O.P., Fr. Robert Sirico, Russell Reno, Teresa Collett, J.D., and Supreme Knight Carl Anderson, provided fascinating and challenging presentations. Audio recordings of these talks, in CD or MP3 format, will be available for purchase in the CMA’s online store.
The 2012 CMA conference was noteworthy for the number of medical and college students in attendance. Over 70 students attended the conference, 52 medical students, 8 graduate students in other health-related fields, and 14 college students. Due to the generosity of donors and sponsors, almost all of the students were able to attend the conference on scholarships. In addition, the CMA announced the creation of an annual “Boot Camp” for medical students, to be held at Philadelphia in June 2013. The CMA boot camp will provide an intensive immersion in the life of the faith and the teachings of the Church as related to the art and science of medicine.
The General Assembly of the CMA passed two resolutions of note. The “Resolution on Opposing the HHS Mandate” reviewed the multiple critical issues posed by the HHS mandate and other recent attacks on religious liberty, including the deleterious effects on women’s health, the redefinition of religious institutions, providing unprecedented access to abortifacients and sterilization to young girls, and the undermining of conscience rights of healthcare professionals. Members of the CMA then resolved to urge members of the judiciary to protect the human, constitutional, and federal rights of religious liberty and respect for conscience; to urge Congress to enact comprehensive and effective conscience rights legislation; to support bishops, priests, and religious in their public witness against the HHS mandate and to oppose it by every appropriate means available; and to take a leadership role in providing education about the destructive consequences of the HHS mandate. Finally, CMA members reaffirmed their commitment to deliver healthcare services that respect the teachings of the Church on life and love and that truly serve the health and well-being of patients and their families.
In the “Resolution to Affirm Marriage as Between a Man and a Woman,” after noting that the best available published scientific evidence indicates that marriage between one man and one woman in a stable relationship is the optimal situation for the healthy development of children, CMA members called upon “state governments and the federal government to promote the welfare of children by affirming that marriage can only exist between one man and one woman, and that marriage, as traditionally understood, should be upheld as the optimal family setting for raising children.”
Conference attendees left Saint Paul renewed in heart, mind, and spirit. Many are already looking forward to the 2013 annual conference. The 82nd annual educational conference of the CMA, “Mission, Justice, and Medicine: Integrating Catholic Social Teachings into Health Care,” will be held at Santa Barbara, California, October 24–26, 2013. For more information, visit the Events page of the CMA’s website.
Founded in 1932, the Catholic Medical Association is the largest association of Catholic physicians in North America. For more information, go to http://www.cathmed.org.
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