Encyclical

  • Thread starter Thread starter Belinda_Parsons
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
B

Belinda_Parsons

Guest
Is there an encylical on the right for health care? If so can someone point me to it? Has a Pope ever spoke from the chair on this matter?

Thnak you
 
It seems to me that you need to be more specific about what you mean by “health care”. Are you asking if the Church teaches that everybody is entitled to e.g. a free liver transplant? Free psychiatric therapy for life? $5 prescriptions? $10 million in lifelong health care benefits?

IMO the scope of the term “health care” is just too broad to get a meaningful answer to your question.
 
Belinda_Parsons said:
So does this mean the human right to health care id doctrine?
Click to expand...
I don’t know that I would phrase it that way. Mostly because many different people have many different definitions of what “health care” entails, and these definitions seems to be constantly in flux.

The Church does have a strong teaching on the dignity of the human person and social justice (which is spelled out extensively in the link above). It is up to us to make sure that the teaching is being applied correctly in any given situation. When it comes to health issues, there are so many variables that it would be difficult if not impossible for the Church to be too specific about it.
 
Joe_5859 said:
I don’t know that I would phrase it that way. Mostly because many different people have many different definitions of what “health care” entails, and these definitions seems to be constantly in flux.

The Church does have a strong teaching on the dignity of the human person and social justice (which is spelled out extensively in the link above). It is up to us to make sure that the teaching is being applied correctly in any given situation. When it comes to health issues, there are so many variables that it would be difficult if not impossible for the Church to be too specific about it.
Click to expand...
To be more specific, I have a friend who said health care is a right not a luxury and that the Pope and the U.S. Bishops believe this. He said if the Pope is infalliable and say’s it’s a human right then it must be. I believe he was being sarcastic. BTW- my friend is a methodist.
 
I* have a friend who said health care is a right not a luxury and that the Pope and the U.S. Bishops believe this. He said if the Pope is infalliable and say’s it’s a human right then it must be.*

Firstly you might ask your friend for the source of the statement “the Pope and the US Bishops believe this.”

Secondly the Pope is not personally infallible. When he fulfils certain conditions he can speak infallibly about matters of faith and morals. Since the government provision of health care is not either about faith or morals he will not have spoken infallibly on this matter.

Contrary to what some people think the lives of Catholics are not micromanaged by the Church. Whether or not a government thinks its people should have health care provided for them is a prudential matter for the government. Having said that I am glad that I live in Australia where we do have some level of health care provided by the government from our taxes. People whose incomes are so low that they don’t pay tax are also cared for.
 
While it may not be doctrine or dogma, it becomes a matter of justice when certain members of society lack the where-with-all to pay for ordinary health care that can be afforded by those who are more wealthy. In this day and age some medical procedures which are quite expensive have become so widely practiced as to become ordinary. That does not mean that it is unjust for some to have or earn more than others, but it does say that ones right to wealth is not so absolute that some of it should not be used to ensure the common good which would include sufficient food and clothing, a roof over one’s head, and ordinary health care for even the least productive in our society.🙂
 
yinekka said:
Secondly the Pope is not personally infallible. When he fulfils certain conditions he can speak infallibly about matters of faith and morals. Since the government provision of health care is not either about faith or morals he will not have spoken infallibly on this matter.
Click to expand...
Just to expand on this, the pope’s infallibility (not to be confused with impeccibility, meaning that he cant sin and that everything that he does or says is perfect, which is NOT true) is limited to cases where he specifically invokes infallibility. In fact, in the last 200 years, he’s only used the power of infallibility twice… once to declare the Immaculate Conception of Mary, and once to declare the Assumption of Mary.
 
Rolltide said:
Just to expand on this, the pope’s infallibility (not to be confused with impeccibility, meaning that he cant sin and that everything that he does or says is perfect, which is NOT true) is limited to cases where he specifically invokes infallibility. In fact, in the last 200 years, he’s only used the power of infallibility twice… once to declare the Immaculate Conception of Mary, and once to declare the Assumption of Mary.
Click to expand...
Interesting…I certainly did not know that. :confused:
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top