The Catholic Church has persistently strived to extend a helping hand to the poor and the needy in various fields foremost of which is providing free medical care.

Vatican media has reported that His Holiness Pope Leo XIV had earlier inaugurated San Martino the Apostolic Almoner’s new facility under the Colonnade of St. Peter's Basilica which expands healthcare services for the poor, including a radiology unit to quickly diagnose the most common illnesses affecting people living on the streets.

With reports that this followed just ten years of the opening of the “Mother of Mercy” Clinic, the Dicastery for the Service of Charity noted that the new clinic consists of two rooms equipped with state-of-the-art medical technology and a radiology department. A next-generation X-ray machine will make it possible to diagnose quickly and accurately cases of pneumonia, bone fractures, tumors, degenerative diseases, kidney stones, and intestinal obstructions—conditions often neglected among those living in poverty.

The San Martino Clinic is scheduled to work alongside the mother of Mercy Clinic, which offers free daily healthcare to those living in poverty, marginalization, or hardship—led by the principles of the Gospel and the Church’s Social Teaching.

Providing free medical care is quite the foundation for healthy living as it opens avenues of hope for desperate people who urgently need to have medical care but are financially deficient.

This noble attitude of the Catholic Church has over the past years been reflected in the launching of a hospital boat named the "Pope Francis" which set sail on August 17, 2019 in the Amazon River to bring medical care to rural populations.

Marking the event, the late Pope Francis said at the time in a letter, "Just as Jesus, who appeared walking on water, calmed the storm and strengthened the faith of the disciples, this boat will bring spiritual comfort and calm to the worries of needy men and women, abandoned to their fate."

Actually, the hospital boat tends to thousands of people’s health and spiritual needs. This floating hospital is quite a remarkable measure which provides crucial medical services to underserved communities along the Amazon River in Brazil. It is rather a manifestation of the divine mercy that is needed all the time, and particularly nowadays with a world bereft of free medical care particularly in war zones and regions plagued by violence and persecution.

In view of the Catholic Churches sustainable efforts to provide free medical care, it is important in this regard to delve into the relevant role played by Caritas Jordan at the local level.

The role played by Caritas Jordan clinics is quite remarkable at is extends services to patients from different nationalities, where they are examined and provided with the necessary treatment within the available facilities and services.

They provide clinical examination which  includes blood glucose measurement, body temperature measurement, pulse and blood pressure measurement to avoid complications caused by high blood pressure.

Furthermore, women undergo periodic examination which includes the providing healthcare for pregnant women and conducting minor operations at Caritas clinics as deemed necessary.

In light of the key pioneering and leading role played by the Catholic Church in the field of providing free healthcare services, it is important to have this highly valued mission emulated by various parties in the world, so as to help alleviate the suffering of ailing people and help map out a smile on the faces of the ill and the desperate.

Many thanks are conveyed to the Catholic Church for its merciful attitude towards the needy as it manifests Lord Jesus' Sermon on the Mount when He said, “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy." (Matthew 5:7)