One hundred years ago, about the same time the Diocese of Corpus Christi was erected, Boston Archbishop William Henry O’Connell founded the first Catholic Physicians Guild in Boston in an effort to educate doctors in the doctrines of the church.

Nearly 100 years later, on Oct. 18, the Diocese of Corpus Christi held its inaugural White Mass in the hopes that it will lead to the founding of a local Catholic Medical Association.

“The work of a medical professionals touches our lives and those of our parishioners every day and it is right to honor those involved in healing,” Bishop Wm. Michael Mulvey said.
The White Mass got its start in the United States in the 1930s along with the development of the Catholic medical guilds. It is usually celebrated on the Feast of St. Luke, the patron saint of physicians, which this year fell on Oct. 18.

The White Mass received its name because of the white coats worn by doctors. At its inception, the White Mass was celebrated in hospitals, chapels, parish churches, cathedrals and anywhere that the doctors practiced their profession.

This first White Mass in the diocese was celebrated at the Corpus Christi Cathedral. After the Mass, Father Tadeusz Pacholczyk a bioethicist with the National Catholic Bioethics Center and a regular columnist of the South Texas Catholic gave a talk entitled “In Vitro Fertilization and Infertility: Babies Should Be Begotten, Not Made” at St. Joseph Hall.

“Most doctors are people who genuinely care for their patients. They tend to be concerned about the social issues that can affect the health of those entrusted to their care, both family and friends,” Deacon Stephen Nolte, director of the Life, Justice and Human Dignity Office in the Diocese of Corpus Christi said. 

“We want to recognize the contributions persons in the medical field make to the well-being of all people of faith. At the same time we hope to assist them in making ethical, moral decisions in areas of life which have become less clear as science and technology offer advances and life challenges most doctors have not been prepared for,” Deacon Nolte said.