Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Taipei (Agenzia Fides) - “These fifty four years of service have been 54 years of grace” said Fr Raimondo Yang Chia-Men, M.I., director general for pastoral care at Our Lady of Luo Dong Catholic Hospital during a recent special anniversary Mass. Christian Life Weekly bulletin issued by Tai Pei archdiocese reported that the hospital began 54 years ago as a clinic dedicated to Our Lady opened by Camillian missionaries in a very poor district of Luo Dong. The structure gradually grew to become Our Lady of Luo Dong Catholic Hospital with the motto “Loving Care and Service like Our Lady”, and today is “an exemplary model of medical, physical and moral care”. The hospital has 600 beds and offers the best of treatment. Various bodies offer special help: the Friends of Dialysis Foundation funds poor patients in need of dialysis; Qi Zhi Camillian Centre offers formation, treatment and care for mental patients since 1987; Premature Babies Association cares for babies born prematurely, the Rehabilitation Friends Association cares for people with a disability.
The Camillian missionaries are greatly appreciated for their qualified and dedicated service. The present director general of Our Lady of Luo Dong Catholic Hospital, Italian born Camillian Fr Antonio Didone, appointed director of Hui Min Hospital in 1960 at the age of 28, was moved to Our Lady of Dong Hospital in 1967 and in 1973 sent to Italy to specialise in paediatrics. Under his direction the hospital has made technical and spiritual progress. In these 54 years the hospital has treated patients and then their children and their grandchildren with loving care and qualified service. (Agenzia Fides 02/10/2006 Righe: 32 Parole: 339)
