Caring and Curing as Ends of Medicine in Catholic Theology Thomas Le Taillandier de Gabory To cite this version: Thomas Le Taillandier de Gabory. Caring and Curing as Ends of Medicine in Catholic Theology. Humanities and Social Sciences. Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas, Manila, Philippines, 2018. English. tel-03233078 HAL Id: tel-03233078 https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-03233078 Submitted on 23 May 2021 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. CARING AND CURING AS ENDS OF MEDICINE IN CATHOLIC THEOLOGY ----------------- A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of Sacred Theology University of Santo Tomas ----------------- In Partial Fulfillment for the Degree Doctorate in Sacred Theology by Rev. Fr. Thomas Le Taillandier de Gabory, OP, MD, PhD (August 2018) Manila, Philippines UST FACULTY OF SACRED THEOLOGY Page ii UST FACULTY OF SACRED THEOLOGY Page iii Copyright @2018 by Thomas Le Taillandier de Gabory, OP All rights reserved UST FACULTY OF SACRED THEOLOGY Page iv ABSTRACT The dissertation explores the ends of medicine in Catholic theology. It focuses on the study, from a theological and teleological viewpoint, of two concepts: caring and curing. The main question is: What is the relationship between caring and curing as ends of medicine in Catholic theology? The method is theological with the study of the Bible, the Fathers of the Church and the Magisterium of the Catholic Church, with adding philosophical (or ethical) and theological traditional and modern sources. The dissertation is divided into four parts: Part One is a biblical study which begins with the Old Testament where God appears as the only one who can cure illnesses. But a reflection on wisdom includes the role of physicians who cooperate in God’s plan for the well-being of humanity. The New Testament, especially the parable of the Good Samaritan, confirms that care is the primordial end of medicine. However, this does not mean that cure is a secondary end. In Part Two, we present the image of Christ the Physician as seen by the Fathers of the Church. He heals and saves humanity by his sufferings, by taking unto himself all the sufferings of humanity. He appears as the Man-God who suffered greatly. He is the God of compassion who calls to take care of the suffering humanity. Part Three highlights a hierarchy in the ends of medicine in the Magisterium of the Catholic Church. This is to care always, and to cure when possible. Cure is a part of care, cure is within care. This means that, in the order of intention, to care is before to cure. But in the order or execution, the two ends must be concomitant. Part Four determines how God’s plan on the ends of medicine are concretely mirrored in each physician. It seems that a confusion in the relationship between cure and UST FACULTY OF SACRED THEOLOGY Page v salvation can be at the origin of a reversal in the hierarchy of the ends of medicine. The study of the Bible, the Fathers of the Church and the Magisterium of the Catholic Church allows to put into light a theology of medicine. The primary end of medicine is to alleviate the sufferings of the world and to accompany those who suffer. This theological reflection is fundamental since therapeutic medicine, which becomes more and more techno-scientific, runs the risk of wanting to cure at all costs. Keywords: care, cure, heal, medicine, theology of medicine, medical doctor, health care, compassion, vocation, Providence, God-Healer, Christ the Physician, salvation, Good Samaritan. UST FACULTY OF SACRED THEOLOGY Page vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I wish to express my gratitude to those who accompanied me in writing this dissertation. I am very grateful to Mrs. Cecilia F. Chan for her kind help in language expression and translation from French to English. I cannot forget the brotherhood of Very Rev. Fr. Bruno Cadoré, OP, Master General of the Order of Preachers, Very Rev. Fr. Gerard Francisco Timoner III, OP, his Socius for Asia Pacific, Very Rev. Fr. Napoleon B. Sipalay, Jr., OP, Prior Provincial of the Dominican Province of the Philippines, and Rev. Fr. Rolando M. Castro, OP, Prior of the Priory of Saint Thomas Aquinas. I am indebted to my Dominican brothers from the Province of the Philippines who accompanied me with their kindness and brotherhood during my stay in the Priory Saint Thomas Aquinas and the Royal and Pontifical University of Santo Tomas in Manila. I am grateful to my dissertation adviser, Rev. Fr. Fausto B. Gómez, OP, for his encouragement as well as his ideas and thorough reading of my drafts, which enabled me to complete this dissertation. I thank the panelists, who enhanced my proposal as well as this dissertation by their reading, comments and significant suggestions: Rev. Fr. Rodel E. Aligan, OP, Rev. Fr. Jose Antonio E. Aureada, OP, Rev. Fr. Jerry R. Manlangit, OP, Rev. Fr. Ermito G. De Sagon, OP, Rev. Fr. Jannel N. Abogado, OP. I am also very grateful to the Prior Provincial of the Dominican Province of Toulouse, Very Rev. Fr. Loïc-Marie Le Bot, OP. I wish to express my gratitude to His Eminence, Most Rev. Luis Antonio G. Cardinal Tagle, D.D., Archbishop of Manila, chairman of the Tulay Ng Kabataan Foundation, to Rev. Fr. Matthieu Dauchez, executive director of the Tulay Ng Kabataan Foundation, to Élise and Charles Cruse and all the volunteers. UST FACULTY OF SACRED THEOLOGY Page vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgments…………………………………………………………..vi List of abbreviations……………….………………………………………..xiii CHAPTER I GENERAL INTRODUCTION A. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY ....................................................... 1 B. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM ..................................................... 3 C. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY ....................................................... 5 1. Physicians and Health Care Providers ........................................................ 5 2. Patients ........................................................................................................... 6 3. Charismatic and Healing Groups ................................................................ 6 D. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY ........................................................... 6 E. SCOPE AND LIMITATION OF THE STUDY ................................... 7 F. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE ............................................ 9 G. METHODOLOGY ................................................................................ 25 H. DEFINITION OF TERMS ................................................................... 26 I. STRUCTURE OF THE THESIS IN NARRATIVE FORM ............. 28 UST FACULTY OF SACRED THEOLOGY Page viii CHAPTER II ILLNESSES AND MEDICINE IN THE BIBLE Introduction A. ILLNESSES AND MEDICINE: OLD TESTAMENT ...................... 31 1. Assyro-Babylonian Concept of Illness and Medicine ............................... 32 2. Judaic Concept of Illnesses ......................................................................... 35 3. Judaic Concept of Medicine ....................................................................... 38 a. Difficult Practice of Medicine ................................................................... 38 b. Physicians as Rivals of the God-Healer .................................................... 41 c. Three Perceptions: Relation between God’s and Physicians’ Work ......... 43 4. Vision of Illnesses and Medicine: Evolution ............................................. 44 a. Origin of Illnesses ..................................................................................... 44 b. Meaning of Illnesses ................................................................................. 45 1) Illness as a Spiritual Trial ................................................................................ 46 2) Sin as the Illness of the Soul ............................................................................ 48 c. Concept of Medicine ................................................................................. 49 1) Medicine as a Separate Profession ................................................................... 52 2) Physicians as Cooperators of God ................................................................... 54 3) End of Medicine by God .................................................................................. 55 B. VISION OF ILLNESSES AND MEDICINE: NEW TESTAMENT 58 1. End of the Concept of Personal Retribution ............................................. 59 2. Vision of Medicine ....................................................................................... 60 a. Healing of the Woman Suffering from Hemorrhage ................................ 61 b. Luke the Doctor......................................................................................... 61 c. Parable of Caring....................................................................................... 62 Chapter Summary UST FACULTY OF SACRED THEOLOGY Page ix CHAPTER III FATHERS OF THE CHURCH: TITLE CHRISTUS MEDICUS AND ENDS OF MEDICINE Introduction A. CHRIST THE PHYSICIAN ................................................................