NOVEMBER 14. THE SPEECH OF THE PRESIDENT AND EDITOR-IN-CHIEF ON THE OCCASION OF THE PUBLICATION OF THE NEW HKLD GAZETTE: E GAZETTE 3 2024

The new HKLD e-Gazette, number 3-2024, is out. We bring you the Word of the President and Editor-in-Chief, Assoc. Prof. Ph.D. Roka Čivljak, MD, and you can browse and read the entire Glasnik HERE!

Dear readers, dear HKLD members!

We begin this issue of the Herald with a review of our clergyman Don Ivan Bodrožić on Dignitas infinita, the declaration on human dignity, which was published by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith on the anniversary of the death of St. John Paul II. This declaration emphasizes the irreplaceability of the concept of the human person within Christian anthropology and points to the scope and positive implications on the social, political and economic level, bearing in mind the latest development of discourse on this topic in the academic environment and its dual understanding in the contemporary context.

In the following, we review the content of the Little Lexicon on the End of Life, which was published in July by the Pontifical Academy for Life in the Humana Communitas series of the Vatican publishing house LEV.

Then we present four articles, each of which in its own way sends a message in which context the activity of Catholic doctors should be considered in contemporary society. There is also an article by Prof. Ivan Šestak, who deals chronologically with the influence of Ivan Paul II. with the Croats and his influence on their current history, not failing to show his respect for the entirety of our history from the arrival to the former Roman Empire until our independence.

As the president of HKLD, I met on September 11 with Msgr. Dr. Dražen Kutleša, Archbishop of Zagreb and President of the Croatian Bishops’ Conference, with whom I discussed the past work of HKLD, as well as plans for the future as well as the possibilities of cooperation with the Zagreb Archdiocese and the Croatian Bishops’ Conference. The archbishop became interested in the possible contribution of the HKLD to the improvement of pastoral care in Croatian health care, which, in addition to care for a person’s physical and psychological well-being, must also include care for the spiritual needs of patients and health workers. The last topic of the meeting was the education and formation of young health workers, in which it is necessary to include all structures of the Church at the local and national level in order to compensate for the lack of education and training programs for health workers in the field of medical ethics and bioethics.

There are also reviews of two international conferences in which members of our Society actively participated and deepened the visibility and influence of HKLD in international medical associations.

We have finally realized our long-standing wish that, on the encouragement of prim. Dr. Vlatko Perčina, we make a pilgrimage to Boka Kotorska, the bay of Croatian saints and saints, among whom for our Society the visit to Dobrota, from which the Servant of God Ana Marija Marović originates, was particularly impressive. Msgr. was also delighted with her resume. Dr. Renzo Pegoraro, Secretary of the Pontifical Academy for Life, who joined the HKLDs in this pilgrimage, especially to the message that her life brings us: concern for marginalized social groups, including the poor and rejected, especially young people and women. Her example can be a model for us in today’s mission of the Church, both for all believers active in society and for us health workers gathered in HKLD, pointed out Msgr. Pegoraro.

Along with other reports on activities in the branches and sections, at the end of this issue we bring you announcements of future events as well as a display of new editions of the Signa cordis
HKLD library.

Greetings in Christ!

Assoc. prof. Ph.D. Rok Čivljak, MD.