The CMA is a national organization composed of local guilds who work closely with their chaplain. The CMA mission is to form Catholic physicians so they can bring forth the transcendent presence of Christ Jesus in the practice of medicine for the sanctification of the world.
In 1912, the Archbishop of Boston founded the first Catholic Physicians' Guild in order to educate physicians in Church doctrine as it relates to the practice of medicine, to strengthen spirituality, and to encourage growth in holiness. Over the next several years, the idea of a Catholic Physicians’ Guild began to spread throughout the eastern United States, as many physicians met with their chaplain for spiritual formation.
By 1932, the dream of a national organization came to fruition in the National Federation of Catholic Physicians' Guilds (NFCPG), the predecessor of the Catholic Medical Association (CMA). The objectives were to foster Catholic physicians’ knowledge and practice of moral and ethical medical principles, and to increase solidarity among its members. The NFCPG formed a board of directors who organized North America into ten regions and appointed regional directors to form local guilds throughout the country. They also hosted an annual meeting that was held, out of convenience, at the American Medical Association (AMA) annual meeting. The first year the NFCPG met at a separate time and place from the AMA was 1956.
Simultaneous with the formation of the NFCPG was the birth of the Linacre Quarterly, a journal designed to inform subscribers about Catholic principles as they apply to pertinent medical and scientific issues of the day.
Soon Catholic Bishops relied upon the physicians of the NFCPG for expert opinions on medical issues. In addition, the White House regularly asked the NFCPG for briefings from the Catholic perspective on current medical moral issues. The high watermark of the NFCPG came in 1967 when it numbered more than 10,000 physician members.
The organization thrived until 1964, when conflicts arose concerning contraception and socialized medicine. In the years subsequent to 1968, after the promulgation of Humanae Vitae, the national organization split apart over the contraception issue. Membership fell to a low of 300 members, with guilds remaining in only Chicago and Philadelphia. For the next three decades, significantly reduced in size, the national federation continued its annual meetings and remained vital through the hard work of physicians loyal to the magisterial teachings of the Church.
In 1997 the name changed from NFCPG to the CMA to reflect the fact that the organization consisted almost entirely of individual members. In 1998 the CMA hosted a New York meeting where His Eminence John Joseph O’Connor presided over the White Mass for physicians. The new structure favored a return to the previously successful emphasis on the local guild working closely with its chaplain spiritual director. With the springtime of the new millennium, the revitalization of the Church and of Catholic physicians began.
Today, the organization is flourishing. In 2007 ten new chapters, including ours, formed. Two or three more are in the works. The growth of the CMA is tremendous, and the work is fruitful. This year the CMA has involved itself in vaccine issues, end of life and futility concerns, a statement on Gardasil, pro-life work, conscience clauses, articles in the National Catholic Register, and interviews on EWTN. The CMA has developed the website: http://www.cathmed.org. The CMA president is now on the United States Council of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) Pro-life Committee. In order to incorporate students and residents into the CMA and to provide mentoring and connections to Catholic physicians, many guilds are now working with the fast-growing Catholic Medical Students Association, website: http://www.cathmsa.org/index.html.