Rivers of Healing, Wells of Mercy and Trust: Re-imagining Health Promotion as Holistic Care for Marginalised Communities
Pope Saint John Paul II visited the hospice founded by Saint Mother Teresa in Kolkata, 1986. (Photo: Francois Lochon/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)
The Double-Edged Sword of Rapid Urbanisation on Marginalised Populations
Universal health coverage states that each human person, regardless of background or status, deserves a right to see a doctor when they are unwell, attain clean water and access clinics and medicines to help them heal – without financial hardships. While several countries claim to have achieved the status, marginalised communities, such as local indigenous groups who are bearers of a nation’s cultural, ecological and historical wealth; low-waged labour migrants who uptake precarious jobs that locals avoid; refugees who seek security, the urban poor and internally displaced persons face complex health inequities. Here, health marginalisation manifests through restricted access from distance, cost and overcrowded or under-resourced health systems; fear of health facilities or authorities; lack of cultural sensitivity; and environmental injustices.
The Amazon Synod, for example, demonstrates how the participating eight countries are now a ‘wounded’ and ‘deformed’ beauty and place of suffering and violence – from privatisation of natural goods, predatory hunting and fishing and unsustainable urbanisation driven mega projects (hydro-electric concessions, deforestation, illegal logging, infrastructure development). These contribute to complex social consequences such as loss of identity from cultural alienation and environment degradation, systemic neglect, pollution-related diseases, drug trafficking, violence among women, sexual exploitation, human tracking, criminalisation and assassination of leaders. Low-waged migrant workers, who are backbones of infrastructure, service and care sectors, are excluded from national healthcare plans, while refugees lack basic rights to health service utilisation at a compassionate rate despite their humanitarian status. These leave men, women and children vulnerable to malnutrition, poor health outcomes, non-communicable and re-emerging episodes infectious diseases and even untimely death.
Wells of Encounter and Catholic Social Teaching for Inclusive Healthcare
The imagery of rivers and wells, borrowed from sacred scripture (Ezekiel 47, Isaiah 12:3, John 4, Revelation 22) and the philosophy of River above Asia Oceania Ecclesial Network (RAOEN), captures essences for a responsive healing framework – one that integrates theological, ecological, public health and synodical visions of the Church for marginalised communities. Rivers are sources of healing, sustenance, livelihood and pathways of outreach, while wells are places of encounter, nourishment, identity, health and trust. Therefore, health and care systems must flow toward the margins, drawing from deep wells of compassion and equity. As waters of Baptism are blessed at Easter, we renew our commitment to become healing streams in a wounded world. In the spirit of Pope Francis’ encyclicals Dilexit Nos, C’est la Confiance and Laudato Si’, this article offers a faith-inspired vision for healthcare promotion – one that is embedded in love, ecological stewardship and radical trust in Divine Providence. It reflects on how to advocate for health and care systems that are rivers of healing and trustful wells of God’s mercy and love.
Detail of mosaic showing the Sacred Heart, the Blessed Mother and St. Francis de Sales in the Chapel of St. Claude de la Colombière in Paray-le-Monial, France (photo: Elena Dijour/Shutterstock)
In Dilexit Nos, the emphasis on “God loved us first” (1 John 4:10) elucidates a foundational love that is not hypothetical but deeply incarnate and manifests in dignified care for humanity – especially the suffering and marginalised. As indigenous health belief systems are harmoniously interlinked to tradition and land, a public health system inspired by Dilexit Nos must recognise these interconnections and promote integrated healthcare service deliveries that honour indigenous customs, autonomy, access to ancestral forest medicine and clean water. As for refugees and low-waged migrants who are frequently excluded from formal healthcare due to their legal status, healthcare becomes not just a domain of service, but an enterprise of spontaneous love in which we practice solidarity in serving the needs of the neglected. Therefore, inclusive clinical policies that embody Christ’s love by regarding health as a fundamental human right and provides multi-lingual ethnic-based health promotional outreaches are pivotal.
These actions imitate His proximity with human suffering, as Divine Physician in CCC 1503-1505 : "The compassion of Jesus toward the sick and His many healings of the infirm were a clear sign that with Him had come the Kingdom of God and therefore victory over sin, over suffering, and over death. By His own passion and death, He gave new meaning to our suffering which, when united with His own, can become a means of purification and of salvation for us and for others”.
Next, leveraging on C’est la Confiance which serves as an invitation to trust in the little ways of love, this article underscores the significance of resilient formal and community health systems that are rooted in compassion, justice and trust. Such propositions may be relevant in fulfilling the commissioning of bring hope and transformation to the margins through systemic interconnections. Here, implementation of dependable cost-effective interventions that fosters trust-building principles with and within communities to address health disparities may be imperative, such as facilitating community-based nutrition programs for urban poor that draws upon successful models, such as Health Equity Initiative’s community health worker training programme for mental health support among displaced individuals. Considering the multi-ethnic and multi-religious landscapes in high-, low- and middle-income countries, this grounded trust can become powerful tool for healing social fragmentation through interfaith and ecumenical dialogue.
Thereafter, Laudato Si’ draws a vital link between ecological stewardship and human wellbeing – since lush forests and rivers are both environmental treasures and sacred spaces for indigenous tribes and rural communities. When naturally occurring and private water sources become polluted by human activities, public health suffers with contaminant micro organisms, heavy metals, nitrates, radionuclides etc leaching into drinking water of those who rely on them most. Pope Francis reminds us in Laudato Si’ (142) that the “health of a society’s institutions has consequences for the environment and the quality of human life”. Thus, to re-establish their lost sense of agency, health-focussed initiatives can incorporate holistic public health messaging strategies such as associating environmental clean-up with disease prevention, reforestation with food security and situating health awareness campaigns on principles of possessing clean drinking water, hygiene and waste management practices. Here, by integrating ecological care with social inclusion, Laudato Si' advocates for policies that re-establish equitable access to clean water, nutrition and health services.
Wisdom from Saintly Healing Companions
Painting: Gaspar de Crayer, “St. John the Evangelist on the Island of Patmos,” ca. 1649-1669 (photo: Public Domain)
The saintly wisdoms associated with the three encyclical furnish frameworks for healing participation that may be impactful for public health practice. St John the Evangelist, whose message of Divine Love situates Dilexit Nos, emphasises compassion, healing and love that encourages health systems and professionals to value and care of marginalised population with dignity – fostering unity and reconciliation while offering physical and spiritual wellbeing.
Portrait of Saint Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face, O.C.D.
As the spiritual anchor for C’est la Confiance, St Therese of Lisieux inspires healthcare ethos that are rooted in trust, mercy and humility i.e. active listening, extending kindness and honouring cultural values, respectively. St Francis of Assisi’s treatises, that constitute Laudato Si’, calls public health practitioners to integrate ecological justice into clinical care and occupational health. These include training communities to test water quality for heavy metals and infectious agents and implementation of work-rest cycles, rotation and pacing, heat education in workers’ native languages and in situ monitoring of physiological heat strain indicators for migrant workers who are at risk of heat stroke.
Resurrection as Systemic Renewal
"Rivers of Healing, Wells of Mercy and Trust” calls for diverse actors to collaboratively form an active, adaptable and justice-driven approach to healing in line with the ‘resurrection ethic’ of restoring, renewing and reaffirming the sacredness of human life, and its interconnection with life on land, water and sea. It is hoped that healthcare professionals will partner with traditional healers to move beyond the technocratic dualism of clinical medicine and embrace holistic health – so to re-establish culture, dignity and trust in a manner that broadens the WHO’s definition of health: “[Holistic] Health is a state of physical, mental, social [and spiritual] wellbeing, and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity”. Additionally, counsellors and mental health providers can offer trauma-informed care for those who have experienced displacement, violence and systemic neglect. Ecologists could collaborate with public health teams to map environmental risks and develop nature based solution for these communities. Non-governmental, civil society and community-based organisations can integrate compassion and ecological justice into their outreach and circular economy models, whereas policy makers and funders can leverage this framework to design and invest in more inclusive health and care systems. Faith based organisations, religious leaders, federations of bishops, religious institutions and volunteers can implement these theological groundings to inspire health-related missions that embodies Christ’s compassion founded on justice and mercy.
In summary, this article envisions health systems as sanctuaries of encounter, equity and renewal – rooted in love (Dilexit Nos), trusting surrender (C’est la Confiance) and ecological wisdom (Laudato Si') – to heal the excluded and restore creation as a shared sacred gift in our common home.
Keywords:
Public health; Marginalised communities; Health equity; Catholic Social Teaching; Laudato Si’; Dilexit Nos; C’est la Confiance; Compassionate care; Systemic healing; Environmental justice
