Catholic Medical Quarterly Volume 70(2) May 2020

Events

Cancellation of our Annual Conference and AGM.

In response to the Corona virus pandemic, our planned Annual Conference and Annual General Meeting on Saturday 25th April at St Mary’s University, Twickenham was postponed. The theme for the planned conference had been “Healthcare at the Margins – the place of the Catholic Church”. It is hoped that we may be able to rearrange for the Conference and AGM to take place later this year. In the midst of continuing uncertainties, however, no provisional date for a re-arranged conference has yet been made.

Mass was celebrated for the CMA, at the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsongham , on Saturday 25th April, at midday. Additionaly, Mgr. Armitage will dedicate the midday Sunday Mass each week to all Healthcare Workers, for help & protection in these difficult times. Like the Re-Dedication of England to our Mother Mary yesterday, these services are "streamed" on their web-site:

https://www.walsingham.org.uk/livestream/ .

CMA Fifth Annual Youth Conference

At the moment, the planned CMA (UK) Annual Youth Conference will be held on Saturday 3rd October 2020. The theme for the conference will be “Agonia – A Conference on Mental Illness”. Details for booking will be found on the website semperidem.co.uk and the facebook page facebook.com/catholicmedicalassociationenglandandwales

Last year’s Youth Conference on “Care of the Dying Patient”, held at St Aloysius Church, Euston on Saturday 5th October was a tremendous success. As was our February meeting at St Dominic’s Priory entitled “Can We Be Saints?” with its reflection on the life of Frank Duff, founder of the Legion of Mary.

International meetings

The Coronavirus pandemic has obviously led to the postponement and cancellation of many other national and international events. Local branch CMA meetings, planned in West Midlands, Sussex and Newcastle in March and April have been cancelled.

The Federation of European Catholic Medical Associations (FEAMC) had planned for its next board meeting to be held in Vilnius, Lithuania from April 28th to May 2nd but this meeting has been postponed. It is hoped that it might be re-arranged to take place at a later date when conditions significantly improve to allow safe travel and conferences to resume.

A UNESCO Bioethics conference had been planned to take place in Porto, Portugal from May 11th to 14th. This has been postponed and is now scheduled to take place from August 31st to September 3rd if conditions allow and if international travel restrictions have been relaxed. The CMA (UK) will be represented at this meeting with the honour of delivering a presentation at one of the sessions on the topic of “Decriminalisation of Abortion in the UK”. Members are encouraged to consider attending and booking information can be found at http://bioethics-porto2020.com/

The US CMA Annual Educational Conference, scheduled to take place in San Diego, California from 23rd to 26th September is still likely to go ahead at the time of writing. Organisers are hopeful that health concerns over the Covid-19 pandemic will have greatly subsided well before that time. Once again, the CMA (UK) will be represented. An abstract submitted for presentation has been accepted and is entitled “Judges, Politicians, Physicians and Threats to the Doctor-Patient Relationship: Who can we Trust?”.

Annual March for Life

The Annual March for Life, originally planned for Saturday 13th June 2020 in central London is cancelled, but there will be a live streamed event on YouTube - see https://www.marchforlife.co.uk/ for details.

Boarbank Hall Events for 2020-2021

Boarbank Hall 4th-6th December 2020 - Hope in Health: Families and Carers. An Advent weekend open to anyone interested in sickness and health.

11th-16th January 2021 - Hope & Salvation: Drugs Good and Bad. Open to doctors, nurses, chaplains and other healthcare professionals.

10th-14th March 2021: Hope & Salvation: Highlights for Newcomers. Open to doctors, nurses, chaplains and other healthcare professionals. Talks will include updated highlights from the meetings of the last twelve years, as a taster for newcomers and for anyone who finds this time of the year more convenient.

Join Doctors with Africa CUAMM team running for Africa

Doctors with Africa For further information please write to: uk@cuamm.org

Join Doctors with Africa CUAMM team and #RUN4MUMS in this memorable event. The Royal Parks Half Marathon takes place in four of London’s stunning Royal Parks and some of the most iconic landmarks including Buckingham Palace, The Houses of Parliament, The London Eye and the Royal Albert Hall.