A Catholic Contribution to Global Public Health

Global public health has several persistent challenges that require partnerships to properly solve. A global institution with the resources and influence of the Catholic Church, even though its health-related efforts have traditionally focused on the provision of direct medical care, could be a more valuable partner for global public health than it traditionally has been. The challenges are not technical in nature, but are conceptual ones that prevent global public health from achieving its full potential. For example, the intellectual resources of the Church could help cultivate a sense of vocation among public health professionals, similar to the awareness of vocation enjoyed in healing professions. Additionally, the social teaching of the Church, particularly the preferential option for the poor, could help shift the enduring issue that global resources often flow where they are least needed. Further, dignity and solidarity could provide the conceptual grounding needed to invest more energy in capacity building in low-resource settings. Such efforts also require conversion within the Church itself, suggesting that deeper partnership could benefit both the Church and global public health.