A panel discussion entitled “Orthodox Anthropology and Medicine – The Human Being between Healing and Cure” was held in the packed parish hall of the Church of Saint Alexander Nevsky in Belgrade, organized by the Section for Dialogue in the Public Sphere of the Missionary Department of the Archdiocese of Belgrade and Karlovci. The panel was moderated by the section coordinator, Presbyter Dr. Aleksandar Milojkov, and featured engaging discussions and exchanges by Protopresbyter-Stavrophor Branko Ćurčin, a spiritual father of the Cenre for Psychosocial Rehabilitation and Resocialization of Addicts “Land of the Living” of the Diocese of Bačka, Protodeacon Assist. Prof. Dr. Petar Dabić, a cardiologist, and Dr. Andreja Miricki, a physician and poet.
The discussion began with an analysis of the World Health Organization’s definition of health, subsequently approached from the perspective of Orthodox Christian anthropology. The topic of the relationship between healing (as understood within Orthodox Christian anthropology) and cure (in the medical sense) was then addressed. The participants persuasively argued that the concept of healing could serve as a common point of convergence between Orthodox anthropology and medicine and could thus be integrated into the aforementioned WHO definition of health.
The discussion also explored other significant and thought-provoking questions, such as the meaning of pain and suffering from both medical and Christian anthropological perspectives, as well as issues concerning self-centeredness, self-love, and the human being as a creature called to communion.
The relevance and depth of the topic were further underscored by numerous questions and reflections presented by members of the audience at the conclusion of the panel.
