Rise Up and Walk: Catholicism and Health Care Across the Globe

The Catholic Church is the world's largest non-governmental provider of health care; more than a quarter of all the health care facilities in the world are under Catholic auspices. Those facilities, however, range from technologically sophisticated urban hospitals to small under-resourced rural clinics. Pope Francis has said, "Health care is not a luxury, it is for everyone," but the gap between health care for those with means to pay and those without continues to widen. This volume gathers scholars and practitioners from around the world to reflect on some of the most pressing challenges to Catholic health care among some of the globe's most underserved people. In addition to local narratives and analysis, the volume also reflects dialogues between care providers in different parts of the global South and between practitioners in the global South and the global North. The chapters in this volume question the missionary model of the rich North rescuing the poor South and show how a universal church can promote dialogue between Western and non-Western medicine and traditions of care.