Journal of Contemporary Health Law & Policy (1985-2015) Volume 17 Issue 1 Article 7 2000 What Catholic Social Teaching Says to Catholic Sponsors of Church Plans Alison M. Sulentic Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.law.edu/jchlp Recommended Citation Alison M. Sulentic, What Catholic Social Teaching Says to Catholic Sponsors of Church Plans, 17 J. Contemp. Health L. & Pol'y 1 (2001). Available at: https://scholarship.law.edu/jchlp/vol17/iss1/7 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by CUA Law Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal of Contemporary Health Law & Policy (1985-2015) by an authorized editor of CUA Law Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. ARTICLES WHAT CATHOLIC SOCIAL TEACHING SAYS TO CATHOLIC SPONSORS OF CHURCH PLANS Alison M. Sulentic* As we enter the third millennium, men and women, especially in the poorest countries, are unfortunately still deprived of access to health services and the essential medicines for their treatment. Many of our brothers and sisters die each day of malaria, leprosy and AIDS, sometimes in the midst of the general indifference of those who could or should offer them support. May your hearts be attentive to these silent pleas! It is your task, dear members of Catholic medical associations, to work so that every person, regardless of his social or economic status, can exercise his primary right to what is necessary for restoring his health and thus to adequate medical care.' - Pope John Paul II (July 7, 2000) The Holy Father may not have had the citizens of the United States in mind when he spoke these words at an international Jubilee gathering of Catholic doctors in July 2000.