It is a little known fact that hospital is a Catholic invention. In the Roman times, Christians in hiding began caring for those who were injured, solders and gladiators alike. When Christianity became legal, they began to extend this care for the sick in houses of “hospitality”, which means places for strangers or guests. This tradition was carried on in the monasteries for pilgrims, the poor and the sick. The first hospital like what we have today was founded by Pope Innocent III in the Middle Ages, which became the model of hospitals all over the world. The first medical schools were also founded around the same period in Italy. At the time, hospitals were run by religious orders and there was an extraordinary rule they follow: The sick was considered their Lord, and those who provided care were servants! In those days, most of the care was undertaken by the clergy, monks and religious. Their model of care was primarily not technical, but spiritual and pastoral. As we shall see, this changed with modernity.
The healthcare setting and especially the Catholic hospital can become a privileged place for evangelization to happen.
The Christian understanding on suffering is a truth that can offer an authentic relief to those in anguish. Since we do not “live on bread alone,” there is always a need for love in addition to material healing. Due to secularization, a gap has been developed between technological progress on the one hand and respect human dignity on the other. In addition to a technological or managerial solution to illnesses, Christians are called to offer them solidarity, and the hospital can be a profound expression of “teandricity”—a place where God and man encounters each other.
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