Catholic Medical Quarterly Volume 67(1) February 2017
Reports
Beginning of Life Conference: Brief Report
Donato Tallo, Registered Nurse
On
Saturday 22nd October at Newman House on Gower Street, London, where the
Catholic Chaplaincy for Central London Universities is located, a
fantastic afternoon conference for juniors and students of the healthcare
professions took place. Newman House provided a very good venue for the
event and it was encouraging to hear that in this academic year the
catholic chaplaincy based there is celebrating its 50th anniversary.
Over seventy juniors and students of the healthcare professions attended the conference that focused on issues concerning the beginning of life and it was fantastic to be able to listen to an interesting range of very engaging, emotive and motivational speakers.
The first speaker Fr Stephen Wang, Catholic Chaplain to the London universities spoke about the vision of St John Paul II's Evangelium Vitae which he made relevant in a beautiful manner to those of us who work within healthcare environments.
Following
Fr Wang a motivational talk by Drs Adrian and Josephine Treloar focused on
the need to love and be compassionate to all and helped to remind all of
us of our duty to see Christ in others as well as the importance of strong
family values.
A young midwife spoke very personally about the value of human life and the privileges and challenges of being a midwife in the modern day and at the end of the afternoon Dr Mike Delany spoke about the importance of individuals working in healthcare staying true to their beliefs and convictions while at the same time being lawful, respectful and compassionate to others. This in particular was very interesting as well as highly informative.
Some delicious home-made cakes were enjoyed by those in attendance during the break and the end of the day culminated with pizza and drinks over many varied and interesting conversations.
