So strongly does Msgr. Bernard Rossi believe in the importance of Catholic health care, he once told a priest whose bishop dispensed him from hospital calls that if he didn’t like to visit the sick he shouldn’t be a priest.

Reflecting on two-and-a-half decades of service in providing Catholic health care in the Archdiocese of Vancouver, Msgr. Rossi declares without hesitation that caring for the sick is not only central to the ministry of priests, it’s central to the work of the Church.

“I don’t think there can be any true ministry in the Church if the sick are not part of it and at the very heart of it,” he said in an interview, “because they’re the ones most in need and most vulnerable.”

His mandate as the archdiocese’s Episcopal Vicar for Health Care having ended this summer, Msgr. Rossi, 76, is now focusing on his responsibilities as pastor of St. Michael’s Parish in Burnaby – responsibilities that continue to allow him to provide pastoral care for the sick at Royal Columbian Hospital and Burnaby Hospital, and, increasingly because of pandemic restrictions, to reach out to people who are at home.

Msgr. Rossi anointing the faithful at a World Day of the Sick Mass in 2005.  Msgr. Rossi finds great satisfaction in bringing “the comfort of the sacraments” to sick.

The incident with the priest who didn’t like hospital calls illustrates Msgr. Rossi’s conviction about the importance of the Church’s health-care ministry. The visiting priest was at a conference several years ago where he “confessed quite candidly” to Msgr. Rossi that he not only didn’t want to visit hospitals, his bishop ensured that he did not have to do so.

“Well, my reaction – my personal reaction – was, then you shouldn’t be a priest,” he recalled. Asked whether he actually said that to the priest, Msgr. Rossi answered, “I did say that because, and I’ll say it still, that’s crucial, that’s critical.”

It follows, then, that Msgr. Rossi firmly believes that a bishop assigning priests to hospitals “needs to look for the best priest, because they are dealing with people who could be at the end of life, who could be at the moment of having to meet the Creator, and they need the best kind of pastoral assistance and guidance.”

Msgr. Rossi, who taught medical ethics at Newman Theological College in Edmonton in the mid-1980s, was appointed Episcopal Vicar for Health Care in 1996, the first position of its kind in the country. The position was discontinued in 2005, but in 2013 Msgr. Rossi was again appointed vicar for health care.

He has also been the B.C. bishops’ representative on the board of the Catholic Health Association of B.C. and served on the joint governance board of the five Catholic hospitals in Vancouver, continuing when they were later governed by Providence Health Care.

While the focus of his mission has remained true to the Gospel and the ministry of Jesus, changing times and laws have brought new challenges. For example, because of privacy laws, priests cannot simply make their rounds in a hospital seeking out Catholics who need pastoral care. Instead, they have to wait for a specific request to visit. “It’s more difficult now,” Msgr. Rossi said.

With advances in life-saving and life-prolonging technologies, questions also arise around the appropriate level of care for the dying. “People do ask for clarification,” he said. “People are sometimes confused, thinking that maybe they have to accept every treatment available, which is not the reality, and which is certainly not the teaching of the Church.”

The challenges of Catholic health care today include privacy laws that restrict visits, life-prolonging technology, and assisted suicide, says Msgr. Rossi. (Terry O’Neill)

The legalization of medical assistance in dying presents graver challenges still. For one, the law prevents a priest from trying to dissuade a person from being euthanized. It’s a troubling development because, although most Catholics support the Church’s teaching on the immorality of euthanasia, “there are Catholic people who, regardless, decide to go ahead and ask for assisted suicide,” Msgr. Rossi said.

“There are some that I’ve been quite shocked to see it happen, but it is happening because of the pressures and the publicity that’s out there.”

For someone with that frame of mind, administration of the sacraments must be ruled out. “What’s the point of the sacraments when that person is rejecting God’s gift of life and God’s plan and God’s will?” he said. “No, there has to be a change of mind.”

For those who are properly disposed, Msgr. Rossi finds great satisfaction in bringing “the comfort of the sacraments” to them. “At the heart of pastoral care in the Catholic sense is the administration of the sacraments,” he said, “because it’s the action of Jesus and his presence – that reality. Yes, you see people so comforted and so much at peace in the face of death through reception of the sacraments,” an experience that proves sustaining to the priest as well.

Susan House served for 22 years as executive director of the CHABC and counts Msgr. Rossi “as a mentor, consultant and friend.” 

“He was always willing to offer helpful, true-to-the-Magisterium advice and input on any number of ethical and pastoral issues,” she said, adding he chaired the association’s ethics committee that brought together representatives from every Catholic health-care facility in B.C.

She noted Msgr. Rossi made a major contribution to the association’s work in establishing advance care planning guidelines for Catholics and was the driving force behind the CHABC wallet cards that, in the event of an accident or serious illness, identify the carrier as Catholic.

Msgr. Rossi was the driving force behind Catholic wallet cards identifying their holder as a Catholic in case of emergency.

Catherine Mykyte, a former president of the CHABC and a trained parish nurse, said Msgr. Rossi encouraged her and supported the establishment of parish nursing in the archdiocese. “He believes so strongly in the body/mind/spirit connection, and he heartily embraced the concept of a nurse working alongside a pastor to provide health care for parishioners,” she said.

In turn, Msgr. Rossi said he has learned to have “profound respect for all sorts of people who work in health care, and … for the commitment and dedication of the competence of people working on the various boards. And I’ve learned,” he said, pausing, “to be more open, to listen, to keep my mouth shut.”

His accomplishments now part of his legacy, Msgr. Rossi believes the Church will always have an important contribution to make in the field of health care “because of our commitment to the dignity of the human person.”

He’s also hopeful it will always have “the opportunity to make its contribution of moral and ethical teaching that is rooted in Gospel values and in respect for the dignity of the human person. Whether secular government will allow that to continue is another issue.”