A more attentive religious assistance to the sick and ever better training for hospital chaplains: that is the hope expressed by Father Vitor Feytor Pinto, national coordinator of the ministry of healthcare for the Portughese Episcopal Conference (CEP), in a communiqué issued on 3 February on the CEP website (www.ecclesia.pt), on the eve of the 12th World Day of the Invalid on 11 February. “The accompaniment of invalids writes Father Pinto has always been a concern of the Church which is committed to providing effective religious assistance. Visits to the sick, participation in the Eucharist celebrated in hospital, and the administration of the sacraments, are fundamental aspects of this service that is provided thanks to chaplains, who have included many of great generosity”. However the ‘major breakthrough’, according to the coordinator, was registered only after Vatican Council II, when “the need was grasped to introduce a better organized religious service and ensure that this service be not exclusive to the chaplain but also involve lay assistants”. Following the Council, the Episcopal Conference proposed to the Ministry of Health “the creation of a statute of the chaplain to regulate the activities of priests and his assistants in hospitals”. A method of work was developed which, Father Pinto concludes, “has heightened the awareness of the population, improved assistance in hospitals and prompted the Church to devise new forms of service to patients”.
