A local chapter of the Catholic Medical Association is forming in the Diocese of Superior, giving healthcare workers an opportunity to pray together and support one another in monthly virtual meetings.
Dr. Amy Schneider, who works for Mayo Clinic in Rice Lake, is leading the effort to found the new guild. After receiving the support of Bishop James P. Powers and establishing that Fr. Adam Laski and seminarian Andrew Smith will offer spiritual guidance, Schneider organized the first meeting, which took place via Zoom on Nov. 13 during the lunch hour.
Nine healthcare workers, including physicians, physician assistants, a nurse and a pharmacist, joined. After introducing themselves, attendees offered their prayer intentions – for ailing diocesan priests, people struggling with addiction and substance abuse, church leadership and more – and later prayed a decade of the rosary together.
According to Schneider, a chartered guild must have a letter of support from the bishop and a minimum of three national CMA-member physicians to serve as officers. She cited benefits of joining, including the organization’s lobbying for conscience protections, euthanasia opposition and more.
Schneider envisions guild members will pray together monthly, have an annual gathering with Mass and food and hold an educational event each year.
Schneider then ended the general meeting; anyone interested in helping form the guild was invited to stay on the call.
Two physicians, Dr. Cliff Tenner and Dr. John Pulvino, agreed to sign on.
Tenner, a family medicine and emergency room physician who now works in urgent care, said he tried years ago to launch Natural Family Planning training in the diocese, but it never moved forward. He has a strong interest in pro-life issues.
Pulvino, who has been practicing family medicine in Cumberland for the past few months, moved to the area with his wife and three children. He is a current member of the Catholic Medical Association.
Calling their assent a “total answer to prayer,” Schneider said, “I feel like God has already blessed the group a lot.”
CMA meetings are tentatively planned for the second Thursday of the month. Call 715-937-8397 for more information.
