Two sisters, medicine and religion, accompany man from the moment he sees the light until his heart beats its last, taking care of his body and soul, bestowing him with strength and belief in salvation. Nor was it a coincidence that most of the miracles worked by Jesus were healing by nature. Saint Luke was a physician and Ukrainian medicine was founded by Ahapit Pechersky [Agapitus of the Caves], a monk and physician in the Kyiv Pecherska Lavra Monastery of the Caves [subsequently canonized]. Hospitals were organized by monasteries and churches.
There are certain absolutes in the history of mankind, such as grief, solitude, aging, ills, and finally death. Physicians and clergymen come out as man’s natural allies in his attempts to rejuvenate his spirit and flesh. Mercy is the key word for physicians and those healing our soul with prayers. This idea was stressed by Volodymyr Voitenko, MD., opening the second scholarly conference titled Medicine and Religion two weeks ago in Kyiv.
There is much in common between medicine and religion, although this obvious symbiosis has not as yet resulted in their effective cooperation. What hinders it? How does the church feel about current breakthrough in genetic and reproductive technologies, transplants, growing human organs, abortion, euthanasia, and cloning? Are physicians and the clergy prepared to combine efforts in carrying out the great humanistic mission bequeathed by Jesus who “when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease.” (Matthew 10:1)?
The Dayaddressed the above questions to some of the learned participants in the conference.
Liubomyr PYRIH, MD., Academician of the Ukrainian Academy of Medical Sciences: “We know that profoundly religious people are generally quicker to recover and live longer even when afflicted with incurable diseases; it is easier for them to endure grave ills and physical suffering. This easiness is an important factor in the course of disease. There is the somatopsychic link, meaning the impact of disease on the patient’s psyche, but right beside it is the psychosomatic one, when the patient’s mood, determination to defeat the affliction augmented by profound belief can normalize the physical process within the system. I am one physician who believes in everything that can help the patient.”
All it takes to develop cooperation between medicine and religion is good will on both sides. In fact, Dr. Pyrih is convinced that the process would be considerably speeded without the schism in the Ukrainian Church. For example, the idea of building St. Ahapit’s Chapel on the premises of the National Medical University [former Bohomolets Medical Institute — Ed.] nearly ended in scandal, as several confessions proceeded to compete for the privilege of becoming its patron. Finally, the idea was discarded, lest the situation be further aggravated. He is also convinced that Ukraine needs a single Local Church that would help unite the nation and stimulate contacts between medicine and religion.
Ivan PARPALEI, MD., Provost, National Medical University, also mentioned the chapel as a vivid example. In his opinion, an ideal physician is one versed in his field and raised on Christian morals. Pirogov’s pupils were especially grateful to him for teaching them to remain human among their fellow human beings. Ukraine finally has national medical standards, but their authors originally overlooked the need to include ethics and professional requirements. Correcting this shortcoming cost all those concerned a great deal, says Prof. Parpalei, adding that even this is not enough, because the Ukrainian medical institutions still lack a solid discipline teaching mercy, neighborly charity, and faith.
Volodymyr VOITENKO: “In my opinion, the strongest impulse to cooperate comes from the Church. There is nothing wrong about this, of course, but I wish it were a two-way street. Quite often such cooperation strongly resembles a formality. A church is opened at a hospital and almost every day prayers are offered up for the patients’ health. This is good, without doubt, people assemble and pray, the atmosphere is elevated, as when watching a good play at the theater. This atmosphere inspires noble feelings, but they vanish once you step out of the church. Such collective seances are not very effective for people. I would not want to deny the importance of such mass approaches, but the individual one proves more effective in the sense of both physical and psychological therapy.
I remember inviting clergymen to attend a joint conference five years ago, the first of its kind since the end of our decades of official atheism. They were overjoyed to accept the invitation — mind you, they were ranking clergymen. Our relationships are less emotional now, and such a conference is no longer regarded as extraordinary. The positive thing is that the idea of cooperation is starting to be implemented. For the physician, this is not a matter of personal taste, worldview, or philosophy. Rather, a matter of professional qualification. Faith, it should be pointed out, is also a medicine, so it must be administered. The more so that the Church is involved in certain medical fields, such as drug addiction and AIDS and has had quite positive results. Perhaps these endeavors are not as effective as we would like, but there is an acute social need in them. I think that clergymen could be of great help to middle-aged women susceptible to a variety of ills and simultaneously more inclined to seek remedy in religion.
Father Mykhailo from Lviv believes that religion and medicine are based on philosophy, both focused on man, but accord is possible between them only if both rely on truth, intellect, knowledge, and faith. At the conference, he was echoed by colleagues of different confessions who said they agreed there could be no secular, Orthodox, or Catholic bioethics. Meanwhile, they stressed, the Ukrainian people is suffering the consequences of ecological genocide. Scientific attainments quite often benefit as well as threaten man’s life; abortion means legalized murder (the rights of man in his mother’s womb are as important as those of anyone already born); some countries recognize the legality of euthanasia.
Prof. Volodymyr NIKOLAYEV, MD., a Roman Catholic, told The Daythat he knows from personal experience that a prayer recited from the heart, coming from one’s very soul, can work miracles, especially when treating patients and particularly when faced with terminal cases. In such cases it is best to have a priest by your side. At the same time, Prof. Nikolayev notes that the medical side does not show much enthusiasm about cooperation with the Church. He does not blame the physicians, because Ukrainian medicine is in a horrible condition. And the Ukrainian religious community is being torn apart by inner conflicts. All this distracts medics and clergymen from their common objective, the individual.
