Guild Updates From Around the Country

The St. Gianna Guild of North Central Florida and Our Lady of La Leche – Jacksonville Guild co-hosted a day of reflection themed, “The Courage of The Florida Martyrs” and delve deeper in examining how Catholic physicians need such courage to practice virtuous medicine in 2024, especially as Florida CMA gears up to educate on the harm the proposed Amendment 4 would have on women and unborn babies. The day retreat took place Saturday May 25, 2024 at The Shrine of Our Lady of La Leche in St. Augustine. Featured speakers included CMA President Dr. Michelle Stanford and Dr. Mary Soha from The Committee for Canonization of The Florida Martyrs. Members joined in a Eucharistic procession led by Father Anthony Hamaty, chaplain for both host guilds. Fr. Hamaty also said Mass and led adoration for attendees.

The Denver Guild has been busy. This past March, Guild members attended Mass said by their Chaplain Fr. Eric Zegeer in front of Planned Parenthood. In April, the Guild members served at the Free Screening Clinic at St. Joseph’s Church in Denver, receiving over 150 individuals for care. They also hosted their annual Bioethics Conference highlighting the fight against physician assisted suicide, alternatives to IVF and understanding the harm of gender-affirming care. This month, the Guild will host a ceremony for student members graduating from the University of Colorado School of Medicine – Anschutz.

The Allentown Guild of the CMA is back in action after a period of inactivity. They recently hosted a prayer, fellowship, and lunch gathering at Saint Theresa of the Child Jesus Parish in Hellertown hosted by pastor and Guild Chaplain, Father John Krivak, PhD. It is the first of several planned events for the Guild over the next few months, including a business meeting in May, a dinner event in June and an educational event in July. According to Guild President Deacon Bruno Schettini, this is a new beginning for the Guild.

Dr. Oliva represented the Catholic Medical Association at the Second International Bioethics Conference hosted by the Jerome Lejeune Foundation, on May 17-18, 2024. The conference was held at the Augustinian Patristic Pontifical Institute, in Rome. The conference focused on the current challenges on Genetics, Biotechnology and Neuroscience as applied to human life and health. Topics included genetic editing of human embryos for therapeutic or enhancement purposes; prenatal diagnosis, assisted reproduction techniques, surrogacy, and artificial wombs; the “three-parent embryo” and the challenges of synthetic biology; euthanasia and neonatal palliative care; gender dysphoria and hormone treatment of minors. The Foundation sought to enrich the scientific debate from a human nature and natural law based approach. Dr. Oliva was asked to speak on the technical aspects and complication of the surgical treatment of gender dysphoria. His lecture was well received.