The Church and Health Care an Appeal to the Silent Priests and Bishops

Preserving Christian Publications, Inc. TRADITIONAL CATHOLIC BOOKS Specializing in Used and Out-of-Print Titles Catalog 183 January-February 2018 PCP, Inc. is a tax-exempt not-for-profit corporation devoted to the preservation of our Catholic heritage. All charitable contributions toward the used-book and publishing activities of PCP (not including payments for book purchases) are tax-deductible. The Church and Health Care An Appeal to the Silent Priests and Bishops The political debate taking place in the United States regarding against the Church and Christian Civilization, a theme that some health care, as Juan Donoso Cortés wrote regarding all political might think is a problem of the past, two and a half decades after the questions, is ultimately a theological or religious question. A century fall of the Soviet Union. But the British case of government control ago American Catholic author James J. Walsh, in his book The over the life of an infant demonstrates the continuing threat of Thirteenth: Greatest of Centuries, devoted a chapter to the theme of socialism, and the spreading of the errors of Russia foretold by Our “City Hospitals – Organized Charity.” In it he showed how the Lady at Fatima. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira’s 1976 book added a Church in the Middle Ages created organized medical care, in the subtitle of central significance in the present debate: An Appeal to form the modern world now knows and from which it continues to the Silent Bishops. The author recognized that there were divisions benefit. Even in the United States, a non-Catholic country, Catholic within the hierarchy of the Church regarding the contemporary hospitals constitute a major sector of the nation’s health care system. threat, and he asked those bishops who might otherwise remain This factor has made Catholics in the United States a central silent to lead the faithful in a time of crisis. His analysis revolved participant in the debate regarding how health care should be around the appearance and influence of the national episcopal provided. conferences during the twentieth century, and the danger that However, there has been much confusion in the debate about individual bishops would forego the exercise of their own authority the respective roles of the Church and private charity on one hand, out of a fear of opposing a majority opinion, an opinion competing and the role of government, on the other hand, in providing health with their own, but one that does not replace the authority of care to a nation’s citizens. In the Catholic Middle Ages government individual bishops to speak out against the moral evils of our time. played a relatively minor role. But today, the turning of the entire Turning our attention from Brazil to the United States, we find management of health care over to government, as various modern a clear example in the matter of health care. In 1919 the American governments have been demanding, and with Catholic leaders at bishops, through what was then called the National Catholic War times acquiescing, is contrary to the centuries-old practice of the Council, issued a document titled “Program of Social Church, and led recently to the death of the baby Charlie Gard in Reconstruction” on February 12 of that year, followed by a joint England – when socialized medicine assumed authority over the life Pastoral Letter on September 26. The first of the two documents and death of a helpless infant, causing untold grief to his parents, as addressed the question of the role of insurance in caring for the socialism denied them their parental rights over their child. nation’s citizens. That document of nearly a century ago has been In 1976, Brazilian Catholic leader Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira (continued on page 2) published a book about the escalation of the Communist threat The Kevin Symonds–Christopher Ferrara Debate on the Third Secret Turn to pages 22-23: Catalog Table of Contents Our Lord / Our Lady– p. 2 Interior Life–Ascetical & Mystical Catechetics/Youth/Education/Children’s Saints & Blessed – p. 4 Theology – p. 7 Literature – pp. 15-17 Catholic Biography – p. 4 Prayer, Meditation, Retreats – p. 8 Catholic Literature – p. 17 Church History & Christian Civilization – Sermons & Conferences – p. 9 Latin Titles – p. 18 p. 5 Sacred Liturgy / Liturgical Music / Litur- French, Spanish, Italian, Polish, Hebew – Sacred Scripture – p. 5 gical Year – pp. 10-13 p. 19 Philosophy – p. 6 Papal Teaching & Canon Law – p. 13 Special Authors – p. 20 Apologetics & Converts – p. 6 The Priesthood & Religious Life – p. 13 Periodicals / Miscellaneous – p. 23 Dogmatic Theology – p. 6 Religious Orders & Congregations / Lay Antiquarian Books – p. 24 Moral & Pastoral Theology / Marriage & Confraternities – p. 15 Books in Print – pp. 24-27 Family – p. 7 Fathers & Doctors of the Church – p. 15 1 (The Church and Health Care – continued from page 1) position that is not consistent with the position of the American bishops in 1919, but contrary to it. Rather than favoring a centralized misunderstood today, even among bishops themselves within the national health care system, such as the British system that resulted national conference of bishops, as an episcopal endorsement of in the recent death of the infant Charlie Gard, the American bishops national health care managed by the government. But the bishops in in 1919 held that “any contribution to the insurance fund from the 1919 in fact took an entirely different position, indicating that general revenues of the state should be only slight and temporary,” insurance was not primarily the role of government, but rather that and that “all forms of state insurance should be regarded as merely of businesses in providing for their employees. This episcopal policy a lesser evil, and should be so organized and administered as to of a century ago calls to mind the guild system of the Middle Ages, hasten the coming of the normal condition.”** In other words, the in which the individual guilds provided insurance for their members. bishops in 1919 saw the “normal condition” as the work of charity As James Walsh’s book clearly indicated, insurance and health care and justice on the part of the private sector, not a centralized were “organized charity” in a most profound way – a work of charity program of socialized medicine. History teaches us that medical care inspired by the Church and private initiatives, whereby medical care was a work of the Church before being a work of government, and was managed efficiently through activities begun and guided by the that if Catholics were to surrender their role of leadership to a Church, and not controlled by a centralized national State driven by centralized government program, this would favor the usurping by the false principles of socialism. the State of the role of the Church in society. For these reasons we In order to provide perspective on the role of the Church and are making available the historical analysis of James Walsh, written individual Catholics in the debate on health care, we are posting on a century ago, an analysis of the Church’s historical role in our web site – for reading online or for downloading* – Chapter establishing organized health care, the Catholic alternative to the XXI of Dr. James Walsh’s book, in order to demonstrate how it modern systems of socialized medicine. came about that the Church, and not the central government, was the ultimate inspirer of proper health care for a nation’s citizens. In *www.pcpbooks.net (“The Church & Health Care” in right column, doing so we appeal to the priests, and ultimately to the bishops, to then “City Hospitals – Organized Charity,” bottom of page) lead the faithful by providing a proper understanding of our Catholic **Father Hugh J. Nolan, ed., Pastoral Letters of the United States history, and therefore of the tradition of the Church. Currently the Catholic Bishops, Vol. I 1792-1940 (Washington, D.C.: United United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has assumed a States Catholic Conference, 1984), pp. 265-266. ORDERING INFORMATION Each book is identified by name, author, year published, number of selection of new books, primarily reprints of formerly out-of-print pages (p) and price. "IL" stands for illustrated and "pb" for paperback works. New books are listed in our section "Books in Print." Discounts where applicable. Condition of each book is identified as follows: (E) on quantity orders (applies only to books in print, not to used and out-of- Excellent, (VG) Very Good, (G) Good, (F) Fair, (P) Poor. "Bi" and print books) are available: 10% on orders of three or more copies, 20% "Pg" refer to binding and pages respectively. for ten or more. Larger discounts are available to bookstores. 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