Panel: MEDICINE AND THEOLOGY IN DIALOGUE: STEPS TOWARDS MORE EFFECTIVE SPIRITUAL CARE



1086.8 - FROM PATHOLOGY TO LIBERATION: REIMAGINING SPIRITUAL CARE BETWEEN MEDICINE AND THEOLOGY

AUTHORS:
Bischoff S. (Independent Scholar ~ Berlin ~ Germany)
Text:
The historic distancing of medicine and theology has often limited spiritual care to an "ambulance service" - a reactive mechanism that addresses individual distress without questioning the systemic and colonial structures that produce it. This paper argues that a truly effective integration of these fields for spiritual care requires moving beyond a mere clinical supplement toward a holistic synergy that recognizes the bodymind as a biochemical, social, and spiritual assemblage. By confronting the "pathology paradigm" that reduces diverse human experiences to medical "deficits", a synthesized practice can transition from biopolitical normalization to a liberationist trajectory. While medicine provides essential material and physiological interventions, theology - specifically through Emmanuel Y. Lartey's intercultural approach - reclaims the transcendent dimension and the communal context of healing. The paper therefore outlines a decolonial shift in spiritual care toward a "transformative care as community building", moving beyond isolated individualism toward shared accountability. Ultimately, the synergy of medicine and theology enables a transformative form of spiritual care that restores the full dignity of the person, acknowledging that an individual cannot be truly well in a sick society - fostering communal liberation.