The feast of St. Luke, patron saint of physicians, came early this year.
While his feast day is traditionally celebrated on Oct. 18, Mass for the Feast of St. Luke, Evangelist was celebrated on Thursday, Oct. 9 at the Columbus St. Thomas More Newman Center, adjacent to Ohio State University, for the diocese’s annual White Mass.
The White Mass, named for the color worn by individuals in the medical profession, gathers health care professionals under the patronage of St. Luke to ask God’s blessing upon patients, doctors, nurses and caregivers.
In the Columbus diocese, the yearly event is organized by the Catholic Medical Association (CMA) of Central Ohio.
Father Tad Pacholczyk, senior ethicist at The National Catholic Bioethics Center in Philadelphia, served as the principal celebrant for the Mass. He spoke to attendees and members of the CMA afterward.
A priest of the Diocese of Fall River, Massachusetts, Father Pacholczyk writes and speaks on bio and medical ethics. He writes a monthly newspaper column on bioethics that is nationally syndicated to more than 30 diocesan newspapers in the United States, including The Catholic Times.
He holds a doctorate in neuroscience from Yale University and was appointed to the National Institutes of Health Fetal Tissue Research Ethics Advisory Board in 2020.
In his presentation, Father Pacholczyk discussed ethics regarding use of contraception and the abortion pill.
Drawing from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Ethical and Religious Directives (ERD) for Catholic Healthcare Services, he emphasized that acts of contraception are always immoral.
Father Pacholczyk encouraged attendees to “vigorously defend the claim that we care profoundly for both patients in all situations, and we’re always going to do best by both of them in the concrete instances of apparent maternal fetal conflicts that may arise.”
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