Abstract:
The goal of this dissertation is to analyze the practices of hospital chaplaincy based on the contributions from the theology of holistic mission and pastoral psychology, in the perspective of a praxis of caretaking coherent with a holistic comprehension of the Gospel. When people receive a diagnostic of an illness and need to go through an experience of hospitalization, this can lead to a period of emotional fragility, suffering, questioning of their values and their faith. This context challenges the Church of Christ in its fulfillment of its mission of caretaking, especially of those who are suffering, according to the teaching of Jesus Christ. In the case of this study, the need for caretaking in the contemporary world is dealt with in an interdisciplinary way, continuing on with the construction of the concept and the relation between pastoral care and holistic healthcare, establishing the bases for pastoral care in the hospital context. In a second moment, theology of holistic mission is presented as an evangelical expression of Latin American theology aiming to point to the possibility of its presuppositions being adopted as theological foundations for hospital chaplaincy. A social research is also presented which was carried out with two chaplaincy services connected to two respected hospital institutions, through eight semi-structured interviews with chaplains and patients of these institutions. This research provides rich material for analysis and reflection based on the interpretation of the results by the Content Analysis. Later, proposals are elaborated for a hospital chaplaincy that is committed to the contextualization of the Gospel, to the comprehensiveness of the mission, to holistic spirituality, to a partnership in the mission of God and to signaling the kingdom of God.
