We remember Dr. Paul Farmer: "I am a Catholic Worker"

[Catholic Worker]

From: Johanna Berrigan <jberr...@yahoo.com>
Date: Wed, Feb 23, 2022, 5:13 PM
Subject: We remember Dr. Paul Farmer: "I am a Catholic Worker"

Dear Friends,

We wanted to send this short vignette about a fond memory that we have of our first meeting with Dr. Paul Farmer. Johanna had just returned from Haiti. We were discerning about a request from Fr. Gerard Jean Juste to start a health care project in his parish community in Port Au Prince, Haiti. Dr. Farmer was speaking in Philadelphia.

 After Paul gave an inspiring talk, we waited in a very long line to speak with him, share our thoughts and concerns and get his advice. He was incredibly gracious, not hurrying us along at all. Fully present. 

At a certain point in our conversation, we shared with him that we were with the Catholic Worker and asked if he had heard of the Catholic Worker. At that moment he leaned back smiled, looked at us and said, "Guys, I am a Catholic Worker."  

We had the honor of meeting with him a couple of times after that. He had a huge influence on the founding of Kay Lasante Clinic and how the clinic currently operates. See below.

 May he rest in peace.  

Peace,

Johanna and Mary Beth 

House of Grace Catholic Worker

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2/22/22   Dear Friends, We are deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Dr. Paul Farmer. Paul graciously met with us as we were making plans to start a health care clinic in Haiti at the request of Fr. Jean Juste. Paul influenced the founding of the clinic, by encouraging us to follow an empowerment model that included training an all Haitian staff and impressing upon us the importance of community outreach health workers.  We are deeply grateful to him for being our role model, a visionary in global health care, and an inspiring, compassionate humanitarian who brought healing to all in so many ways. Rest in Peace Paul.  Paul Farmer (pictured with here with Archbishop Desmond Tutu) presente! Read more about the life and work of Paul Farmer in this obituary. "He was a practitioner of “social medicine,” arguing there was no point in treating patients for diseases only to send them back into the desperate circumstances that contributed to them in the first place. Illness, he said, has social roots and must be addressed through social structures. " Blessings and Peace, Mary Beth Appel Johanna Berrigan Kara Chambers-Grant Bishop Thomas Gumbleton Katie Huynh   Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.

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