This, we think, is a particularly full issue of Health Progress. Besides a special section on the Catholic health ministry's international efforts, the July-August
number also contains:
- An article by Br. Daniel P. Sulmasy, OFM, MD, Ph.D., on the care of people who have reached life's end. It seems safe to say that, except for sponsorship, no nonfinancial issue generates more discussion in the ministry. Br. Dan's thoughts on the matter should interest many readers.
- The first installment of a two-part article by Sr. Patricia A. Talone, RSM, Ph.D., on the results of a recent survey of mission leaders. In 1993, when the last such survey was conducted, some mission leaders worried that their role wasn't always taken seriously. Sr. Patricia tells us how they see things 13 years later.
Julie Minda, lead editor of Catholic Health World, brought together the articles that make up this issue's special section, "Global Solidarity." We first began discussing the section in early 2005, in the wake of South Asia's devastating tsunami. Since then, we've learned that a number of U.S.-based Catholic organizations have long been involved in international aid projects.
Among them is Catholic Relief Services (CRS), based in Baltimore. Our special section includes two pieces on the agency's work, one by Ken Hackett and Dave Piraino, respectively CRS's president and vice president for human resources, and another by Brian R. Corbin, the CRS director for the Diocese of Youngstown, OH.
Dave Sauer describes an effort by three U.S. Franciscan congregations to help improve health care in the West African nation of Cameroon. Sr. Beatrice Hernandez, OSF, MD; Sr. Sheila Kinsey, OSF, DMin; and Terri Rocole discuss a similar project in Kenya. And Sr. Peggy Egan, OSF, Ph.D., of Catholic Health Initiatives, Denver; and Patricia A. Williams of Trinity Health International, Farmington Hills, MI, write about their organizations' involvement in global health care.
Finally, Fr. Peter J. Henriot, SJ, director of the Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection, Lusaka, Zambia, asks whether the Christian concept of solidarity is compatible with the essentially economic notion of "globalization." He suspects that it is not.
Copyright © 2006 by the Catholic Health Association of the United States
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