Editorial

From its earliest days the Medical Guild of St Luke, SS. Cosmas and Damian has felt that a Journal is necessary to its well-being and perhaps even to its being. Yet it was not till the fourth year of the Guild's existence, in 1914 to be exact, that a Gazette of the Guild made its appearance. Only one number appeared and the date of its publication is sufficient explanation of its failure to establish itself. When the First World War had passed, another attempt was made and the Guild's Gazette made an appearance again in March, 1921. Only one issue appeared. Yet the Guild was evidently determined to have its Journal and Lieut. Col. P. W. O'Gorman was given the arduous task of editorship and management. The first number of The Catholic Medical Guardian appeared under his editorship in January, 1923. The files of the Guardian contain the record of his, literally, untiring zeal and we should be doing much less than justice to his work if we were to try to put the history of his tenure of the editorship into words here. When he passed the task on to Dr M. C. McElligott in the sum mer of 1934 the Journal was an established success. Dr Mc Elligott bore the responsibility of editorship till 1938 with the same devotion to duty as his predecessor. The January issue of 1939 saw the advent of Mr Geoffrey Edwards as editor and he carried the Journal on to the point during the late World War when for financial reasons publication had to be suspended. The last issue of the Guardian was in October 1941. It now reappears incorporated in THE CATHOLIC MEDICAL QUARTERLY,

We know that our predecessors in the editorial chair, all happily still with us, wish success to the new Journal.

Since the last appearance of the Guardian we have suffered a grievous loss by the death of Mr Ernest Edwin Ware who was Master of the Guild from 1921 till 1937. His interest in our Journal was keen and he played a practical role in theproduction of the Guardian till it suspended publication. It is impossible to express in words the esteem and affection in which he was held by his Brethren of the Guild and indeed by all who had the privilege of knowing him. We mourn the passing of a wise leader and counsellor and a loyal friend. An obituary and appreciation will appear in our next issue. Requiescat in pace.

War affected the Guild as well as its Journal. A very large number of our members were serving in the Forces of the Crown and others, especially in the large centres, were burdened with extra duties of many kinds. Nor did war-time conditions permit, in the case of most Branches, the holding of meetings with their exchange of news and views. The Catholic Medical Guardian was itself a war casualty as the absence of so many members of the Guild on service meant unfortunately a disastrous drop in the income of the Guild through the non-payment of subscriptions.

We appeal to the branches and to individual members of the Guild to report to us any happenings of interest, affecting the Guild or its members, which may have occurred and have not yet been chronicled in the Guardian. There must be many such items. Our request is not only for short news items but also for such longer accounts of medical experience and observation as many of our members must have compiled, in their minds at least, during these terrible years. In this regard we should like to point out to our well-wishers and prospective contributors that the kind of contribution we welcome is the exposition or discussion of some question that has a definite relation both to medicine and to our Catholic interest. Articles which serve only one of these interests find their proper vehicle of expression in special periodicals devoted exclusively to either medical or religious questions as the case may be. The religious aspect of our articles may be only implied as, for instance in a in a study of alcoholism. But we by no means wish to exclude narrative articles recording interesting and helpful experiences of members of the Guild. Verbum sat sap.

In the future we wish THE CATHOLIC MEDICAL QUARTERLY to have more constant and methodical contact with Catholic Medical Students' Societies. This is a vital matter for the development of the Guild since the students of to-day are the doctors of to-morrow. Inquiries made by the Editor reveal a woeful lack of organisation on the part of Catholic medical students. We hope that students who are interested will make use of the QUARTERLY in the attempts, which we trust they will make, to remedy this state of affairs. All Catholic Medical Students' Societies are invited to send us reports of their activities though considerations of space may make it necessary for the Editor to use his blue pencil.

Since the last appearance of the Guardian many issues have arisen which concern or may concern us as Catholics. Some of these have the same unequivocal answer from all Catholics while others leave room for a considerable difference of opinion among us. in this latter class, discussion within the four corners of Catholic unity is called for and should prove useful.

We hope to publish in our next number a complete obituary list of the Brethren of the Guild who have died since the Guardian last appeared or whose deaths have not yet been recorded in our pages. In the meantime we ask you to pray for the repose of their souls. The Chaplain has said Holy Mass for each deceased member as soon as the Registrar has been apprised of his death.

Return to Oct 1947 Contents