The priest from the hospital was thrown away by the cleaning, not letting him up. This will change after years
19. Apr 2025 at 18:00
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We are catching up with an old rest, says the bishop.
After 29 years of efforts, spiritual service became part of comprehensive health care. This stems from the Memorandum of Cooperation in the area of Supporting Spiritual Service in Health Signed by the Minister of Health in Košice Kamil Šaško (Voice-SD), Archbishop of Košice Metropolitan and chairman of the Conference of Bishops of Slovakia (KBS) Bernard Bober and Bishop General of the Evangelical Church Ivan Elko.
Ivan Elko, who is also the chairman of the Ecumenical Council of Churches in Slovakia, which brings together 12 churches and religious societies, told the Memorandum of Memorandum for the Diary. Because, as the signatories emphasized, health care is not only concerned with the body but also the soul of man.
In the interview you read:
- As the view of the clergy in hospitals changes,
- For what reasons do the faithful ever reject a priest,
- which sacraments the priest in the hospital can earn,
- What bizarre requirements had a badly ill for the clergy.
Even nowadays, hospital priests and clergymen work in hospitals. What changes will the Memorandum of Cooperation bring?
At first glance, it may not be much change, because the clergy who have been walking in departments so far will also walk from now on. But they will no longer have to fight with such the idea that I wipe here, convince them to let me go to patients at all, or I feel that I’m not quite welcome here, so I have to do it quickly. We no longer have to feel like guests who are claiming something, but as an integral part of health teams.
The memorandum takes a uniform form for all hospitals, which will be a great help for the clergy. They will no longer have to wait for the visiting hours when they are summoned to the patient. As a pastor, I had a lot of good experience, but also surprisingly different. For example, if the clergyman did not let them through the gatehouse to the patient at night. Or a housekeeper threw him out during the day that she had nothing to do there. The memorandum is used to prevent such situations.
I am very excited about this cooperation because it was a marathon that lasted 29 years. It is catching up with a great rest that we have compared to other European countries. It is unbelievable how long it took us.
Spiritual service will only be offered to patients in the hospital?
Also to all employees who are interested in it.
What is your experience with the spiritual service in the hospital?
I was a pastor who had his church choir and always went to the nearest hospital. We also went to the retirement home and the hospice. I realized that one clergyman would only be used in this pastoral sphere, that he would visit sick people for days.
It has always been a very authentic part of my mission, but I had little time for it. An important part of this service is, for example, to visit sick in households, which are also very common. Households are different, you will meet the reality of a person’s life, which are sometimes very difficult and sometimes joyful experiences.
Faith can affect the patient’s health. What is the power of religion in treatment? Read
It often happens that the patient comes to a spiritual who has other religion?
Yes. For example, there is no big problem if a Roman Catholic comes to the Greek Catholis. It happens that a Catholic pastor will come to the evangelical patients and it always depends on the specific two people, as they are able to interact at the moment. The evangelical patient can say – that’s terrible, you don’t even go to me. This sometimes happens. I was also a pastor in the purely Lutheran region on Myjava kopanice and the grandmothers were in shock from the Roman Catholic pastor.
It can also be the opposite. The priest sometimes closes acidic if he comes to the patient of another religion. The resulting communication always depends on the specific pair.
But it is beautiful, and I have experienced it many times when the spiritual church still understands that at the moment it should be tactful and serve the client. At the same time, the client realizes that this is not what he is used to, but it is a spiritual service that I will receive from a Christian.
What sacraments can the spiritual in the hospital make?
The sacrament of the Eucharist, the anointing of the sick, the sacrament of reconciliation, and the Sacred Newborn is sometimes called to earn the sacrament of baptism. Often the clergy went to patients and gave only some simple blessing, such as a cross on the forehead. If I came to evangelical clients and I would just tell someone – God bless you and make a cross on your forehead, it would be very little.
Given that the Catholics realize that there are three hundred in the hospital, and their priest will not be able to devote themselves separately to everyone, they are grateful at least for this act. The service of the Protestants is a bit more complicated, because it is often the mining of the Lord’s dinner, which has its longer liturgy.
Bishop Elko: Polcky peaks in the situation, provokes new levels Read
Is it only a human conversation to some patients?
Of course. Or we pray together. Sometimes we come to the family’s request to a client who is in such a state that he no longer communicates and there we are just praying and comforting relatives. The service is diverse as a diverse life itself.
Can the last anointing be granted to the patient several times during his / her life if the condition improves and worsens again?
[email protected] to help you.
The most important reports from the east of Slovakia read to Korzar.sme.sk. All messages from Košice can be found at Košice Corsair
