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To: meangene

Guess where hospitals came from?

http://americanminute.com/index.php?date=01-23&view=View

The Catholic Church is the oldest institution in the Western World and the originator of ‘hospitals’.

Just as the Syrian Church did in the East, the Catholic Church in the West pioneered putting into practice the words of Jesus:

“I was sick and you visited me,”

and

“Whatever you have done to the least of my brethren, you have done unto me.”

Though some ancient cultures had some medical/superstitious practices, it was primarily for the royalty and wealthy.

Health care for the poor traces its roots to Christianity.

In the 4th century, under the ministry of St. Jerome, a wealthy Christian widow named St. Fabiola gave money to build a hospital in Rome and cared for the sick herself.

Around the same time, St. Basil distributed food to the poor of Caesarea, then built a poorhouse, hospice, and hospital.

In 325 AD, the Council of Nicea directed that every city having a cathedral should also have a hospital, as people traveling on pilgrimages would often arrive ill.

The word “hosp” is Latin for “traveler,” the root word of hospital, hospitality, host, hostel and hotel. Hospitals were staffed by religious orders.

In the 6th century, the Benedictine Order had every monastery establish an infirmary.

With the invasion of Islam, hospitals needed to be defended, giving rise to the order of Knights of Hospitallers.

In the 1300’s, the Bubonic Plague, or Black Death, ravaged Europe killing 75 million people.

Crops were left standing in fields as there was no one to harvest them.

With often no one to bury the dead, an order of Catholic men called ‘Alexian Brothers’ collected the bodies and gave them a Christian burial.

They also ministered to the dying who were banished from the cities.


99 posted on 01/24/2014 4:37:05 AM PST by NKP_Vet ("We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office" ~ Aesop)
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To: NKP_Vet
The Catholic Church is the oldest institution in the Western World and the originator of ‘hospitals’.

Par for the course. You are continuing your unbroken record of making spurious assertion which are an argument against anyone becoming a Catholic. One of your brethren needs to persuade you from posting. At least try to do some research before uncritically parroting parroting RC propaganda.

The fact is that not only is your church not the NT church, as already shown, nor is it the same as the Byzantine church, but while she was in control in Western Europe for many years in which hospitals were built, yet hospitals did not originate with the Catholic church, but existed in China, Greece and Rome long before tha t. But of course, it would be consistent of your to deny any other version of history than yours as being biased and unreliable.

452 posted on 01/25/2014 6:49:05 AM PST by daniel1212 (Come to the Lord Jesus as a contrite damned+destitute sinner, trust Him to save you, then live 4 Him)
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