The Christus Medicus (Christ the Physician) group is for Catholic university students of the healthcare professions and biosciences.

The main aims of the group are:

1. To enable members to support one another in faith, especially through prayer and fellowship
2. To help members to grow in love with Jesus Christ and in knowledge of the teachings of His Church and the lives of the saints
3. To encourage members to become professionals who imitate Christ as the Divine Physician, and who actively assist Him in His ongoing mission of healing and giving life and hope to the world of today.

In the first semester (Sept-Dec 24) we will be exploring the theme of ‘Jesus the Divine Physician: “I am the Lord, your healer” (Exodus: 15:26)’ through a new series of in-person talks delivered by an exciting range of special guest speakers and student members.

In the second semester (Feb-Mar 24) a seven-week Catholic Medical Ethics lecture series, organised in collaboration with the Anscombe Bioethics Centre, Oxford, will be offered to the group.

We will meet every Wednesday between 6-7.30pm in the Chaplaincy room of King’s College London: Guy’s campus. The first meeting will be a social and meet & greet in the Chaplaincy room on Wednesday 25th September from 6pm.

To sign-up and become a member, or for more information, please contact Laurence Jasper, Catholic Lay Chaplain of KCL: Guy’s campus via email: laurence.jasper@kcl.ac.uk and using your university email account.

‘Health is one of the most precious gifts that everyone desires. In the biblical tradition the close relationship between salvation and health has always been emphasized, as well as their reciprocal and numerous implications. I like to recall the title by which the Fathers of the Church traditionally designated Christ and his salvific works. Christus medicus, Christ the physician. He is the Good Shepherd who looks after the injured sheep and comforts the sick one (cf. Ezek 34:16); He is the Good Samaritan who does not pass by the injured person lying by the roadside, but who, moved to compassion, takes care of and assists him (cf. Lk 10:33-34). The Christian medical tradition has always been inspired by the Parable of the Good Samaritan. It is identifying oneself with the love of the Son of God, who “went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed” (Acts 10:38). How much good it does medical practice to think and feel that the sick person is our neighbour, that he or she is of our same flesh and our same blood, and who in his or her lacerated body reflects the mystery of the flesh of Christ himself! “As you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me” (Mt 25:40).’ (Pope Francis)