Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Hyderabad (Agenzia Fides) - Faithful to its mission of serving the unborn and the terminally ill through palliative care and pain relief, the Catholic Hospital of St. Elizabeth, which legally belongs to the Catholic Diocese of Hyderabad in southern Pakistan, has expanded its facilities to accommodate an increasing number of patients, often from very poor families who cannot afford the cost of medical care. Father Robert McCulloch, an Australian missionary of the Missionary Society of St. Columban, Vice-President of the Hospital Board, expressed to Fides his joy that "by Christmas 2024 the construction of ten new rooms planned by St. Elizabeth Hospital for treatment and inpatient care, as well as a nursing room, will be completed". "The Bishop of Hyderabad, Samson Shukardin, came to bless and inaugurate the new ward, which was built in just six months thanks to funding from the Catholic Mission, the Australian national direction of the Pontifical Mission Societies," the missionary said.
The affiliated St Elizabeth School of Midwifery has also been renovated. The school specializes in the care of newborns and mothers, and the opening of a midwifery school offers many girls in the region the opportunity to specialize and find work.
The second aspect for which St. Elizabeth's Hospital is known throughout Pakistan is the home palliative care service for terminally ill patients from poor families and disadvantaged backgrounds: a completely free service, "carried out in a spirit of mercy, in line with the words of Pope Francis when he says that the mission is an immense work of mercy," says Father McCulloch, who spent over 30 years in Pakistan as a missionary.
The home care and palliative care service for terminally ill cancer patients was launched in 2011, is the first and only one of its kind in all of Pakistan and caters to patients of all faiths, Muslims, Christians and Hindus. Thanks to funding from benefactors from Europe, the foundation stone was laid on December 15 for the construction of a day palliative care center, also located in the hospital complex. Construction is scheduled to be completed in June 2025; the opening of the ward is therefore planned for the Jubilee year and will be one of the events in which the entire Church of Hyderabad can give a public witness of faith and closeness to the weakest and most vulnerable.
"With its two specialties, maternal and newborn care on the one hand and palliative care for the terminally ill on the other, St. Elizabeth Hospital in Pakistan expresses the commitment of the Catholic community to the dignity and value of human life, from its beginning to its end," concludes Father McCulloch. (PA) (Agenzia Fides, 18/12/2024)
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