Catholic Doctors celebrate their annual White Mass

Archbishop Julian Leow thanked the Catholic Doctors, Dentists, Nurses and other Healthcare Workers for the good work they had been providing for the p

Nov 03, 2018

KUALA LUMPUR: Archbishop Julian Leow thanked the Catholic Doctors, Dentists, Nurses and other Healthcare Workers for the good work they had been providing for the poor, the sick, the elderly, the handicapped and the marginalised, including the foreign workers and refugees.

He urged them to continue with their good work in looking after the health of the community. He noted that the Catholic Doctors Association of Malaysia (CDAM) had been celebrating its White Mass for the past years, similar to the Lawyers celebrating their Red Mass. It is a good idea to bring along all the various Healthcare Groups including Doctors, Dentists, Nurses, Pharmacists, Councillors, Therapists, etc together as they are all looking after the health of the community in some way or other.

The CDAM held its annual White Mass on October 21 at the Jesus Caritas Church. St Luke is the patron Saint of Catholic Doctors. He was born in Syria and is the patron Saint of Artists, Doctors and Surgeons. He was a physician and it is appropriate for the Catholic Doctors to choose him as their Patron saint. Each year CDAM celebrates its Annual Mass in October to coincide with the Feast of St Luke.

Besides his Gospel, St Luke was also responsible for writing the Acts of the Apostles.

Archbishop Leow said that the White Mass is so called because Doctors and Healthcare Workers wear white overalls in their daily work. He then pointed out that the first doctors in the world were the Bishops who treated people to give them spiritual relief. Then only came the doctors to provide medical treatment.

Prior to the White Mass, CDAM provided a Bioethics talk entitled, Care for the Aged in the Terminal Stage and Advance Medical Directive by Dr Freddie Loh. The medical students were also given an insight on what CDAM has been doing for the local community with a presentation by Dr Juliet Mathew. The session ended with a Mental health talk by Dr Joseph Jacob. The idea of inviting Medical Students for the talks was to inform them about the activities of CDAM and to familiarise them with our Church’s Teachings as they will be future leaders and members of CDAM.

The day ended with the Annual General Meeting at 6.00pm. The present Committee was re-elected for another term of one year. Dr Joseph Jacob and Dr Juliet Mathew were re-elected as President and Hon Secretary of CDAM respectively.

CDAM has been chosen to host the 17th AFCMA Congress in Malaysia Nov 5-8, 2020. Dr Sharon Gopalan the Organising Chairman urged all CDAM Members to give their support to the Congress and make Malaysia proud.

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