In his September 2022 statement, Building a Culture of Life in a Post-Roe World, Archbishop William E. Lori, the archbishop of Baltimore and chair of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities said, “In a post-Roe world, Catholics must now work together … (to) … shift the paradigm to what Saint Pope John Paul II described as ‘radical solidarity,’ making the good of others our own good, including especially mothers, babies (born and preborn), and families throughout the entire human lifespan. It is a call to friendship and compassion rooted in the truth that we are made to love our neighbor as ourselves.”
The Order of Malta has had this sentiment as its mission for more than 900 years, and respect for life is at the core of everything the order does.
Committed to upholding human dignity and caring for people in need, the Sovereign Order of Malta is one of the oldest institutions of Western and Christian civilization and the fourth oldest religious order in the Church. Its charism is the phrase Tuitio Fidei et Obsequium Pauperum, which is Latin for “Defense of the Faith and Care for the Sick and Poor.”
The most direct way that members of the Order of Malta carry out their charism and show their respect for life is at their health clinic in Columbus. Founded in 2016, the Order of Malta Center of Care Clinic is a general care, free medical and dental clinic.
The clinic, staffed by the members of the order, is located in one of the poorest areas in the state, with high unemployment and high infant mortality rates. It is located in the parish hall at Holy Rosary-St. John Church, above a soup kitchen and food pantry, providing free health care to any patient. The clinic does not bill insurance or Medicaid and is funded totally from donations.
Doctors treat the sick and the poor, providing medical screenings (blood pressure, blood sugar/diabetes), podiatry, wound care, checkups and flu shots. Dentists are present to perform all routine dental procedures. In addition, many homeless men come to the clinic for basic supplies.
To fill this need, clinic volunteers hand out bags and backpacks filled with hygiene supplies, toiletries and socks. In the winter, hats, gloves and coats are also distributed.
Another important aspect of the Order of Malta’s respect for life is the Holy Family Hospital in Bethlehem. In the 1980s, Pope St. John Paul II entrusted management of this important hospital, located just steps from the Church of the Nativity, to the care of the order.
Since 1990, more than 4,600 children have been born there every year, cared for by a staff of 200, including doctors, nurses and midwives. It has recently passed the milestone of the 100,000th birth.
It is the only hospital in the area to have a neonatal intensive care unit for babies of fewer than 24 weeks’ gestation. In addition to the maternity wing, the hospital has a pharmacy, a laboratory, a training center and the Well Women clinic for menopausal women.
The facility also has a Mobile Medical Unit that assists remote communities and isolated villages in the desert surrounding Bethlehem. Every week the unit visits Bedouin villages that often lack water and electricity. For many women this is the only health care they have.
Dr. Richard J. Mena, KM, is a medical affairs director in pharmaceutical oncology and a 3rd class lay member of the order from Columbus. In October, he travelled to Bethlehem to visit the hospital.
“What really pleased me was the prenatal care provided by the outreach program to the Bedouin. We are taking the care to them,” he said. “I was also very pleased to see that the hospital maintains the medical standard of care of Europe and the United States, even with such a limited amount of equipment and supplies.
“This is a testament to the dedication of the physicians, staff, volunteers and donors who care for the mothers and babies in the town where our Savior was born.”
Another way members of the order carry out their commitment to respect life is by volunteering for pro-life organizations. Six members serve on the board for the Women’s Care Center of Columbus.
Founded in 1984, the Women’s Care Center serves more than 30,000 women annually at 34 centers in 12 states. It is the largest pregnancy center in the United States and came to Columbus in 2008. In 2021, 3,307 women made 14,467 visits to the center in Columbus, were given 2,850 ultrasounds, resulting in 2,037 babies saved.
Another lay member of the order from Columbus, Dr. Michael Parker, KM, has taken on a significant role.
“I have been involved with the Women’s Care Center as the medical adviser and board member since opening the doors here in Columbus. In this role, I advise the counselors on any medical questions related to counseling clients on complex pregnancy issues and standards for performing pregnancy testing and ultrasounds.
“Since 2020, I have also been involved in reviewing first trimester ultrasounds, so that all ultrasounds taken by our volunteer ultrasonographers have been reviewed by a physician, improving the quality of the ultrasounds performed and helping with the early diagnosis and referral of patients for early pregnancy loss and ectopic pregnancies.”
With the 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade, the need to help those women who would have aborted their babies in the past will expand dramatically. With its commitment to helping the sick and poor, the Order of Malta sees this as an opportunity to help people in need, at all stages of life.
To learn more about the Order of Malta, contact [email protected], visit www.orderofmaltafederal.org, or find it on Facebook.
More important, pray that the Order of Malta can expand its services in 2023 and help more of the sick and poor, the homeless and working-poor families in Columbus.
Charles Mifsud, KM is a 3rd Class Lay Member of the Order of Malta who lives in Dublin.
