“I see the church as a field hospital after battle.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The death of Pope Francis gives me reason today to turn to one of the key themes he spoke about during his years leading the Catholic Church. That is, the Church as Field Hospital.

Healthwise, the Pope had a history of respiratory conditions which began in his early 20s when he had surgery to remove a piece of his lung affected by an infection. Still, he lived to a ripe 88 years of age, participating in Easter Sunday’s morning mass at The Vatican just hours before he passed away. Here’s a snippet from the Vatican’s channel from the Easter Sunday mass.

 

 

 

The field hospital quote in context, in full, goes like this in the Pope’s words quoted from an interview he did in 2013 with the publication, America – The Jesuit Review: 

“The thing the church needs most today is the ability to heal wounds and to warm the hearts of the faithful; it needs nearness, proximity. I see the church as a field hospital after battle. It is useless to ask a seriously injured person if he has high cholesterol and about the level of his blood sugars! You have to heal his wounds. Then we can talk about everything else. Heal the wounds, heal the wounds. … And you have to start from the ground up.”

The “wounds” to which Pope Francis refers resonate with our growing acknowledgement of loneliness in the world….locally, nationally, globally. You’re seeing more on this in Health Populi recently as my work covers drivers of health beyond health care services. (Most recently, you can read my take on “From Bowling Alone to Eating Alone” here).

Health Populi’s Hot Points:  There are several new reports I’ll be covering on the topic of loneliness a week from today (as one is under embargo until then), but the Pope’s passing compelled me to express my sympathy and empathy to all mourning the loss of this very special man, so full of empathy and grace himself.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For today, tying to the health impacts of loneliness, I’ll point us to a recent article in WIRED magazine discussing the research of Kasley Killam on The Art and Science of Connection. I love this book, and its explanation summarized in its tagline: “Why Social Health Is the Missing Key to Living Longer, Healthier, and Happier.”

With longevity a hot topic now with the release of another book by Dr. Eric Topol on aging well (more on that next week in Health Populi), Kasley reminds us that connection helps our health and well-being “now,” and not just later in terms of healthy aging.

Just one statistic from her book: that people with a strong sense of belonging at 2.6 times more likely to report good or excellent health, whereas people who lack social support are up to 53% more likely to die from any cause.

“Just as we exercise our physical muscles, we can strengthen our social muscles, to the vast benefit of our overall health and longevity,” Kasey explains.

Pope Francis reminds us that we can all be part of a Field Hospital for Social Health every single day by reaching out to someone….and by doing so, we’ll not only benefit that person’s well-being, but our own, as well.  That’s an empowering riff on peer-to-peer health/care.