To the
participants in a Cardiology Symposium
30 May 1989
The Holy Father to participants in a Cardiology
Symposium of the European Society of Cardiology, organized by the Faculty of
Medicine and Surgery of the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
1.I am pleased to have this opportunity to meet
you on the eve of the programme “European –American Cardiology in
The presence of so many
experts in cardiology inspires great hope for the progress of research and
scientific reflection in the important areas of the prevention, diagnosis and
therapy of cardiac disease. It also demonstrates your awareness of the need for
effective collaboration in coordinating scientific and technological advances
for the ultimate benefit of those you serve.
2.Throughout the ages, the human heart has been
regarded as more than simply one physical organ among others. In the
Scriptures, the word “heart” refers
to the source of life itself, not merely physical life (cf. Gen. 18.5), but
also the life of the soul as it lies open to God (1
Sam.
In effect, the Scriptures bear witness to the
universal perception that knowledge of
the human heart unveils the mystery of man himself and his place in the world. In
a striking way, recent progress in cardiology has reflected the truth of this
ancient conviction. The latest advances in the field of prevention, diagnosis,
therapy and transplant technique, when seen from a higher perspective, have all
served to further the cause of human life and its sublime dignity. This, of
course, has always been medicine's highest aspiration: to serve life, in all
its nobility, as a gift to be accepted and lived to the full at every moment.
Were it not for this goal, the most sophisticated surgical methods would no
longer be truly medical, but reduced to mere techniques and nothing more.
3.The topics which your symposium will discuss
reveal the extent to which medicine is,
and must always be, both a science and an
art. Its scientific aspects stands out in the
diagnostic and therapeutic technology which so many of you have helped to
develop. But no less important is another aspect of the topics which you will
discuss: medicine is an art, and your medical expertise must depend upon an
inspiration derived from a higher awareness that all that you do aims at the
betterment of your fellow men and women, and seeks to serve their well-being.
This vocation to service is what ennobles your
scientific research and directs it to its ultimate goal: the healing of your
brothers and sisters who suffer. As healers of the heart, you have often
experienced the delicate balance between fear and hope, physical pain and
spiritual tranquility which is felt by so many of your patients. You know the
truth of an observation I made in my Apostolic Letter on the meaning of human
suffering: "As important and indispensable as institutions are, no
institution can ever replace the human heart, human compassion, human love or
human initiative when it comes to dealing with the sufferings of another. This
is true of physical sufferings, but it is even more true when it comes to
dealing with the many kinds of moral suffering, and primarily when it is the
soul that is suffering " (Salvifici Doloris, 29).
4.Ladies and Gentlemen, the learned
Societies to which you belong were founded with goals that are eminently
humanitarian. They serve their purpose best when they foster a blending of
service and love, professional skill and human sensitivity, and lead to a
deeper awareness of the mystery of man himself - man who is a finite being and
yet a creature of God, subject to frailty and yet destined to immortality,
physically weak yet sustained by hope in a life beyond death. May the desire to
serve the ultimate good of others inspire all the proceedings of your
symposium, and upon all of you I invoke the blessings of God our Heavenly
Father.