God save the chaplain. In the United Kingdom, bishops are fighting to save hospital chaplains, abolished by a government campaign which is aiming at stopping the influence of religion on the National Health Service.
Between 2009 and 2010 Great Britain spent ₤29 million on hospital chaplains. The Second Vatican Council urged bishops to “inspire in their people - especially the sick and the suffering - a spirit of generosity in offering God their prayers and penance for the evangelization of the world” (Ad Gentes, 38).
A study by the National Health Service has shown that there is no positive correlation between the amount of money spent by hospitals for services provided by religious personnel and the overall quality of care provided to patients.
A comparison between the expenses incurred by similar hospitals showed significant variations and a potential savings of ₤18.5 million if all facilities conformed to national standards. Getting rid of hospital chaplains would save an amount sufficient to pay the salaries of 1,000 nursing assistants for a year.
“Taxpayers will be shocked to learn the amount of healthcare funds which are diverted to pay for chaplains,” said Keith Porteous Wood, Executive Director of the National Secular Society.
“We do not propose to remove chaplains from hospitals, but their fees should not be covered by public funds, particularly when clinical services to patients are being cut. We have suggested that these services be paid for through charitable trusts, supported by churches and their parishioners.”
For some time in the United Kingdom, an alliance of MPs has been attempting to introduce a chaplain into each UK hospital for each of the major religions, launching a lobbying campaign to ensure the pastoral care of the sick.
The “All Party Parliamentary Group for Chaplaincy” has the support of over forty members of the House of Commons who belong to different religions.
In recent years, the British government has said it wants to reduce the number of hospital chaplains and provide a single “multireligious” representative to deal with patients of different religions.
A report completed by the “Theos” religious studies center revealed that budget cuts in hospitals in recent years have already reduced the number of chaplains by 17%. “Our fear is that chaplains are starting to be seen as a personage who can be done without,” said Mike Penning, chairman of the parliamentary group.
In Italy there are 1,000 (a total of about 36,000 are serving in dioceses) priests who practice their ministry in places of suffering and human frailty: clinics, hospitals, rest homes, and hospices for the terminally ill. And while British bishops are fighting to prevent their disappearance, the Czech Republic has recognized the value of hospital chaplains.
“The service of hospital chaplains is extremely necessary and important, not only for patients and their families, but also for hospital staff,” said Minister of Health of the Czech Republic, Leos Heger in recent weeks during his meeting with the Archbishop of Prague and President of the Episcopal Conference, Mgr. Dominik Duka, and the Chairman of the World Council of Churches, Joel Ruml.
The meeting’s participants agreed that healthcare facilities will be supported by official spiritual service in the nation’s hospitals and health institutions.
In collaboration with churches, the Ministry of Health will develop a legislative framework for the presence and work of the chaplains.
So far this service has been provided based on a treatise on pastoral care in health facilities signed in 2006 by the Conference of Bishops of the Czech Republic and the World Council of Churches.
In Italy there is the AIPAS pastoral care association, a body that includes pastoral healthcare workers such as diocesan priests and religious personnel, deacons, members of religious institutes for both men and women, and lay people.
AIPAS works to promote the presence and the pastoral action of the Church in the health industry, and the humane and Christian training of health workers. It formulates proposals on the ecclesial, political, and social levels for the protection of human dignity in all phases of management and health care, promoting spiritual fellowship and the exchange of experiences between hospital chaplains. These objectives include ensuring permanent and up to date training on the issues and problems concerning pastoral care, culture, health legislation and the protection of social-health institutions, the proper execution of religious services, and the legal position and professionalism of pastoral healthcare workers.
AIPAS is the most recent evolution of a previous association called ANCRO (National Association of Hospital Chaplains and Religious Personnel), officially established on 13 November 1986 out of a collaboration between the four religious Orders that are most prevalent in healthcare: the Franciscans, the Capuchins, the Fatebenefratelli, and the Ministers of the Sick (Camillians).
In previous decades, there have been failed attempts to create an association of hospital chaplains in Italy.