standing by

Veronika Labas on a Vienna hospital with a profound practice of accompaniment:

Through a “life protection agency,” as pro-life associations are commonly known in Austria, the young couple learned of a possible alternative. Since 2020, Vienna’s St. Josef Hospital has been offering perinatal palliative care. Here, couples like them who wish to welcome a child with debilitating or life-threatening diagnoses are supported in realizing their dreams.

With almost four thousand births a year, St. Josef is one of the largest maternity clinics in Austria, and daily life is characterized by happy new beginnings. In the midst of it, though, is a safe space for those whose path is different. Here, a different sort of care and healing takes place, with quiet acceptance and holistic care.

Sister Teresa Schlackl, chief ethics officer at St. Josef, describes it as a “beautiful and difficult task.” Of course, the news of a life-threatening or fatal diagnosis is always difficult for anyone. Your world collapses. But the decisive difference at St. Josef is how this reality is approached and dealt with. For Schlackl, a Salvatorian nun, it is clear that every life has equal value, whether it lasts a second or ninety-eight years. But in her experience, most people have difficulty believing this, which makes comforting them difficult. “In such situations, I have to learn the meaning of simply standing by.”