title: The theology of community benefit. Our tradition obliges us to reach out beyond our hospital walls.
abstract: The Catholic health ministry's concern for communities stems from the church's belief that human dignity is most fully expressed and recognized within the context of community. We humans are social beings by our very beings, and unless we involve ourselves in relationships with others, we fail to develop our innate human gifts. We who serve Catholic health care recognize that Jesus had a special affection for and ministry for the poor and vulnerable. Our church calls on us to provide service and advocacy for people whose disadvantages put them at society's margins. This obligation arises from the fact that all people--the healthy and the sick, the rich and the poor, the well-educated and the untaught--are children of the same loving God. Sharing that God, we are our "brother's keeper."
authors.affiliation: Catholic Health Association, St. Louis, USA.
authors.lastname: Sister Patricia A Talone
mesh_terms: D002410:Catholicism; D003159:Community-Institutional Relations; D016519:Hospitals, Religious / Q000941:ethics*; D006801:Humans; D028681:Moral Obligations; D028725:Theology; D014481:United States