Archbishop Celebrates Mass for Catholic Physicians

Archbishop Edwin F. O’Brien will celebrate a Mass for Catholic medical professionals, including physicians, nurses, medical students, dentists, and scientists, as well as their families, on Sunday, October 18, at 2 p.m. at the Baltimore Basilica.

In the Archbishop’s homily, he will address a number of issues of concern to the Church and to Catholic medical professionals, including health care reform, stem cell research, conscience rights, and a recently-introduced bill before Baltimore City Council that would harass pregnancy resource centers.

Physicians present at the Mass will be invited to have their hands anointed with holy oil. Medical students, allied health professionals, and scientists will be invited to receive a special blessing.

Following the annual White Mass, so called because white is the traditional color worn by healthcare workers, those present will be photographed in their white lab coats with the Archbishop on the front steps of the Basilica.

The White Mass, honoring St. Luke, Patron Saint of Physicians, is sponsored by the Catholic Medical Association-Baltimore Guild. The first Catholic physicians’ guild was founded in 1912 in Boston by William Cardinal O’Connell in order to educate physicians in Catholic Church teaching related to the practice of medicine.