On November 28 and 29, FUNDERÉTICA, the Redemptorist Lay foundation of the Province of Madrid, organized the 10th International Seminar on Biomedicine, Ethics and Human Rights. The sessions, although focused on the health field, covered cross-cutting issues such as Economy, Law or Culture.
The Aula Magna of the CEU- St. Paul University, hosted the 16 presentations, teams and panels of experts that integrated the activity; and among the public, there was a large group of Redemptorist Lay People from Spain and Portugal, as well as different professionals from the Residential Center for the Elderly. Our Lady of Perpetual Help from Santa FE, Granada (Redemptorist Center).
After the inauguration by the Rector of the CEU, the President of FUNDERÉTICA, Rafael Junquera of Estéfani, offered the first conference under the title “Law is law? Dignity is dignity? ” This magisterial lesson gave rise to different tables in which topics as diverse as patient autonomy, dignified death, mechanical and chemical subjection … as well as talent acquisition and management were analysed. And it is that these acts, in addition to divulging technical knowledge and academic reflections, offered to the students of Medicine to know what the leading companies in the sector demand and to receive professional advice.
On the second day of the Seminar, FUNDERÉTICA prepared as a central activity the III Meeting of Ethics and Society, focused on the care of the elderly. José Luis Pareja Rivas, Director of the Residential Center Our Lady of Perpetual Help of Granada, shared the presentation “Ethics, Care and Elderly People” within a table formed by the Senior Citizen Attorney of Jaén, the President of the Spanish Geriatrics Society and Gerontology, the Co-Director of Research of the Maria Wolff Foundation and the Director and partner of MasqueMente. This table was chaired and coordinated by the President of the Mediterranean Human Rights Foundation, Mr Jaime Sendra.
Fernando Bandrés, President of the International Classroom of Biomedicine, Ethics and Human Rights, who thrilled the audience with his speech “Humanization: Sophists and Blunders “.
Finally, to finish the program of activities, the Alma Di Voices group offered a concert in the Chapel of the Saint Paul CEU High School. The repertoire of the same one consisted of musical mystical poetry, where the poems of San Juan de la Cruz, Santa Teresa de Jesús and Fray Luis de León stood out. The interpretation that most appealed to the audience and that the musicians repeated as an encore was the poem ‘Vida de Muerte,’ by Redemptorist Missionary Generoso García Castrillo CSSR.
The verse “When I pronounce death, I say life” put an end to a seminar that allows society to continue advancing on a solid foundation. Because we must continue to innovate, research, cure … taking advantage of the knowledge transmitted by experts and without losing sight of the ethical background and respect for human dignity.
Enrique Ordiales, Madrid
