Awards Bestowed

During 2010, I was one of the recipients of the Vatican’s highest medal for healthcare workers–the Good Samaritan Medal. Archbishop Zygmunt Zimowski, president of the Pontifical Council of Healthcare Workers, bestowed the medal on me at the 5th of September 2010 closing Mass of the Pope Paul VI Institute’s 25th anniversary celebration. The Good Samaritan Medal is awarded to “those who serve the sick and the suffering in an exceptional way” (from rcdow.org.uk). As Archbishop Zimowski bestowed the medal on my wife, Sue, and me, he said, “With God’s grace and the commitment of the management, staff, and supporters, the Institute has educated practitioners, instructors, supervisors, educators, nurses, medical consultants, clergy and religious, and of course touched the lives of many mothers and families.” He lauded the efforts of the Institute–its sometimes solitary efforts–in building a culture of life in women’s health care.

On April 8th, 2011, during a ceremony at our largest-ever Education Phase, I was presented by our FertilityCareTM Educator Janina Filipczuk with the Fides et Ratio medal, which was awarded to me on the 19th of March 2011 by the Polish Catholic Scholars Guild. Janina, who received the award for me in Warsaw, was also a recipient of the award for introducing NaProTechnology to Poland. This award is given by “the Polish Catholic Scholar’s Guild for the promotion of goodness and beauty in the world” and for service to the human person and human dignity. In our spring 2011 issue of “Building a Culture of Life in Women’s Healthcare” newsletter, we have comments from Archbishop Henryk Hoser from the award ceremony.