On 16 November, Biofides said goodbye, in person, to a long-standing commitment to the world of Catholic Medical Associations, in Belgium and worldwide. From the beginning of Biofides, as a Dutch biologist, I was an advisory board member of the Belgian Medical Association Saint-Luke. The aim was to help doctors to answer the great questions that they face if they want to harmonize their professional practice with their faith, yes even more, to be inspired by it to a greater quality of their work, a ‘healthy’ ethics that is not only ‘Catholic’ but also ‘reasonable’, and an even greater love, like that of the Good Samaritan from the gospel, or the love of Jesus, of God himself.
What did Biofides contribute?
- In recent years I have been editor-in-chief of the (multilingual) magazine of the association ‘Acta Medica Catholica,’ which included in-depth articles that were intended to help achieve this goal, texts always at the interface of faith and (medical) science, ethics and spirituality. In addition, I designed and maintained the website cathmed.be
- Because of my Dutch citizenship, I was also in close contact with the Network of Catholic Healthcare Professionals in the Netherlands and there was a fruitful exchange at the European level (feamc.eu).
- Finally, I followed the then president of the Belgian association on his steps towards Rome, as his assistant-advisor, when he became president of the World Federation of Catholic Medical Associations (fiamc.org), based in the Vatican. There I organized a few medical conferences with him and was invited more than once to give a conference myself. I also revised and maintained the website for this organization.
But everything comes to an end and for personal reasons I had to say goodbye to both the World Federation and the Belgian Catholic Doctors’ Association and the role of editor-in-chief of Acta Medica Catholica in 2024.
Encouraging signs
Encouraging signs were, at this farewell:
- The current presidency in Belgium, is held by a Flemish ophthalmologist from Mechelen, which has given a new dynamic to the association;
- The arrival of younger Catholic doctors and medical students, through his efforts, so that the future of the association is also guaranteed;
- The young French-speaking theologian, affiliated with the ‘Univerité Catholique de Louvin’ who took over the editorship from me;
- The well-attended Belgian congress that recently took place on November 16 in the Irish College in the Damien Center in Leuven.
In the December issue of Acta Medica Catholica there is an extensive report of that congress, and a ‘laudatio’ was also published, which was pronounced for me by the honorary president of the association on the occasion of my farewell. The new editor-in-chief also had only very praising words for his predecessor. Both words are shown below.
Thankful
It only remains for me to express gratitude, to God and to all those involved, for the approximately 15 years that I have been able to invest, as a Catholic biologist, on behalf of Biofides, in the encouragement of Catholic doctors in the Low Countries and far beyond, to shape their medical profession from their faith, and to bring their medical practice into line with a well-formed conscience.
In the meantime, Biofides continues:
- once every two weeks at Radio Maria Nederland (on Fridays),
- Answers to questions I am asked
- through this website
- and what Providence has in store for Biofides.
Vincent Kemme
Links
- www.cathmed.be
- nkzn.medische-ethiek.nl
- www.feamc.eu
- www.fiamc.org
- www.radiomaria.nl
- www.biofides.org
