The Study of the Role of Pastoral Care Staff：Focus on Catholic Mercy Hospital in Hukou, Taiwan

• Main Authors: Tseng Hung Lung, 曾宏隆
• Other Authors: John B. Chuang
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2010
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/30086533383150563967

碩士 === 輔仁大學 === 宗教學系 === 98 === This thesis studies the functions of pastoral care staff in Catholic Mercy Hospital in Hukou and investigates the significance of the mission of the hospital, its medical treatments and pastoral activities. Relying on the Holy Bible, Catholic hospitals provide medical skills and treatments, and display the spirit of “Spreading Love through Medical Treatment”. Moreover, they give complete medical care to employees, patients and family members as well as the marginalized people of society in order to expound the four approaches to spirituality: whole person, whole process, whole family, and whole team. To accomplish the mission and spiritual consolation of the hospital, pastoral care staffs provide patients with moral support, sympathy, acceptance, and keeping company. This research discovers that pastoral care staffs have the unique personality, and they pay attention to the integration of people's body, mind, and spirit through sharing their life experiences and spiritual practice with co-workers, patients, and families. Following Christ’s love, the pastoral care staffs look after the patients’ physical pain, listen to the needs of their heart, and guide them to attain spiritual consolation. They help build bridges of communication with hospitals’ managers, employees, patients and families through their life testimony and sincere actions. Facing today’s Catholic hospitals’ pastoral care, the staff members need to equip themselves with the knowledge of the Catholic sacraments, liturgy, catechesis, the clinical pastoral education (CPE) training, and must seriously strengthen the spiritual practice, counseling, interpersonal relationship, and administrative training. It is our hope that our and attitudes will mature in due time ,guide those people who are afraid of death and comfort them and let them find peace in their hearts. The research obtains the following conclusions: 1. Pastoral care staff plays an important role in a catholic hospital, and should have an attitude of willingness to learn, to be able to follow the spirit of Christ, to bring love and care in order to serve others. 2. Pastoral care staff should have the depth of spiritual practice to develop strong personal mature attitude, to provide spiritual care to hospital employees, patients and their families using pastoral action to witness Christian life and faith. 3. In the future of Catholic Mercy Hospital’s Pastoral Department, they should develop a curriculum for pastoral care staff that will help them improve the quality of health care and to show the characteristic of holistic health care and mission.