THE PROMISE of the Catholic Doctor

(Approved by the Executive Committee of FIAMC and the Pontifical Council of the Pastoral for Health Care Workers).__________
I, __________________________________medical doctor, solemnly promise: To continually improve my professional abilities, in order to give my patients the best care I can. To respect my patients as human persons, putting their interests ahead of political and economic consideration, and to treat them without prejudice arising from religious, racial,ethnic, socioeconomic, or sexual differences. To defend and protect human life from conception to its natural end, believing that human life, transmitted by parents, is created by God and has an eternal destiny that belongs to him. To refuse to become an instrument of violent or oppressive applications of medicine. To serve the public health, promoting health policies respectful of life and of the dignity and nature of the human person. To cooperate with the applications of just law, except on grounds of conscientious objection when the civil law does not respect human rights, especially the right to life. To work with openess towards every person, independently of their religious beliefs. To donate part of my time for free and charitable care of the poor.


Inorder to achieve these goals, as a Catholic Doctor , I also promise: To regognize the Word of God as the inspiration of all my actions, to be faithful to the teachings of the Church, and to form my professional conscience in accord with them. To cultivate a filial relationshipwith God, nourished by prayer, and to be a faithful witness of Christ. To practise Catholic moral principles, in particular those related to bio-medical ethics. To express the benevolence of Christ in my life, and in my relationships with patients, colleagues, and society.To participate in evangelization of the suffering world, in cooperation with the pastoral ministry of the Church.