Testimony of Anamaria Mardonez, former student in Religious Sciences

Hello, I am Anamaría Mardonez, consecrated member of Regnum Christi. Currently, I work as part of the spiritual and pastoral accompaniment team at the San Carlos de Apoquindo Clinic, part of the UCCHRISTUS healthcare network in Santiago, Chile. I had the opportunity to study a Master’s in Religious Sciences at the Pontifical University Regina Apostolorum in Rome.

This degree allowed me to start a course in High-Level Training in Pastoral Care and Health at the Lateran University in 2017, followed by a one-year professional training course at Mater Misericordie Hospital in Dublin, Ireland. The latter focused on spiritual and pastoral accompaniment of patients, leading to certification in “Healthcare Chaplaincy.”

Since the hospital is a very rich and unique space to make God present, it is essential for the pastoral worker to have knowledge and skills offered by Religious Sciences as a foundation. The role of those providing spiritual care in the healthcare setting is multifaceted; patients and their families experience difficult moments, doubts, darkness, uncertainties, and often helplessness. Even the healthcare personnel caring for patients need spirituality as a resource in their tasks and profession.

Pastoral care in the clinical setting includes celebratory moments such as baptism, reconciliation, and the sacrament of the anointing of the sick. Giving meaning to pain and suffering is linked to the mysteries of the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

I often find myself accompanying patients in the moment of their death, supporting their families in faith in eternal life and in the fidelity of a Father who loves us. However, increasingly, I encounter patients from other churches and/or religions, as well as non-believers, among others.

The Christian perspective, with its mercy, can open doors to hope in such a unique moment as death. The Master’s in Religious Sciences provides pastoral tools that make the beauty of our faith accessible to everyone and emphasizes the need for a comprehensive vision in the face of the pain caused by illness and death.