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Patient's right to pastoral care

15 December 2022

Freedom of conscience and religion is an important value, protected in Poland both by constitutional regulation and many acts of a lower rank. It derives from it the possibility of freely adopting world views, including religious views, and then manifesting them, e.g. by participating in ceremonies and rites connected with a given cult. This right is enjoyed by everyone, but it is particularly important in the case of sick people. This is because, due to their condition, they may have a heightened need for spiritual feelings. However, when patients are in in-patient medical facilities, such as a hospital or hospice, the realisation of these needs may face natural obstacles. The Polish legislator has therefore guaranteed such patients the right to pastoral care. The article presents the constitutional understanding of religious freedom and shows the international and Polish legal regulations. Next, the right to pastoral care is discussed - the subjective scope, with particular emphasis on the situation of a minor patient, and the objective scope. This section also presents the legal requirements for the operation of a chapel in a medical facility. In the following part of the study, the protection of the analysed rights is discussed on the basis of concrete examples. From a civil law perspective, it focuses mainly on two aspects: the possibility of placing religious emblems, especially the cross, in public spaces, including medical facilities, and the admissibility of administering the sacrament of last anointing to the patient. The whole is crowned by a consideration of criminal liability for religious discrimination and irreligiousness.

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Natalia- Wrzosek/publication/338420159_Examination_of_compliance_with_the_patients_right_t o_confidentiality_in_community_pharmacies_in_Poland/links/5ec6758592851c11a87b0928/ Examination-of-compliance-with-the-patients-right-to-confidentiality-in-community- pharmacies-in-Poland.pdf