Bioethics is one of the few academic disciplines and professions that does not have a patron saint. We at The National Catholic Bioethics Center (NCBC) think this may change soon.
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Catholic Bioethics has a special focus on the dignity of the human body. This flows naturally from the great appreciation we should always have for the marvelous qualities of our flesh and blood. The human person is a composite being of body, soul, and spirit.
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I was thrilled when the Church proclaimed a year of St. Joseph from December 8, 2020, to December 8, 2021. In his apostolic letter Patris corde (With a Father’s Heart), Pope Francis urges us “to increase our love for this great saint, . . . to implore his intercession and to imitate his virtues and his zeal.” We need St. Joseph more than ever in the midst of this COVID-19 Pandemic.
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Making good conscientious discernments is one of the most important tasks of every person. If we cannot see clearly what is right or wrong, or possess the inner strength to pursue what is right, we can expect serious trouble to follow. The worst possibility is our own eternal separation from God in hell or our leading others into this calamity.
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As the historic COVID-19 pandemic is intensifying worldwide and draconian emergency measures are being reinstituted in Europe and elsewhere, I see an urgent need to repeat a defense of the right of patients not to be forced to die alone in hospitals or nursing homes.
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One of the most important tasks in bioethics is distinguishing between ordinary and extraordinary means when it comes to medical care. The reason this distinction is so vital is that Catholics have a moral obligation to receive ordinary care for themselves and give it to others. What is deemed to be extraordinary is morally optional; persons can choose if they do or do not want to receive such care.
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Catholics, like all other citizens of the United States of America, have a duty to participate in our representative form of government by informing themselves about the issues and stances of candidates and then voting.
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The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) recently issued a letter, Samaritanus bonus: on the care of persons in the critical and terminal phases of life. This document from the Church provides important guidance about the Catholic view of end of life care. It notes with regret that we live in an age when euthanasia and assisted suicide are growing threats and temptations to people all over the world.
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The difference between the Catholic perspective on the dignity and rights of human persons and those of many secular and liberal thinkers seems to be widening. The COVID-19 pandemic and recent events have only served to make the contrast even more stark between truly Catholic health care and other visions of public health or medicine.
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The National Catholic Bioethics Center (NCBC) exists to promote and defend God’s plan for creation and the dignity of the human person as championed by the Catholic Church. It is an exciting and a vital mission in our day when so many scientific discoveries and cultural trends attack and exploit vulnerable human beings and the very order of nature.
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The world needs education about bioethics because most people still do not know what a bioethicist does. Even some health care professionals have only vague ideas about it.
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It is my fervent prayer that no successful COVID-19 vaccine will emerge that was developed with the use of ethically tainted cell lines.
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I thank the Lord of Life for the workings of Divine Providence! In July 2019, I uprooted my family, happily living just outside Paris, and succeeded John Haas as president of The National Catholic Bioethics Center (NCBC). So what does Divine Providence have in store for the future? The NCBC is embarking on an ambitious strategic planning cycle to position ourselves for the next 3–5 years and launching new initiatives.
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I wish to express with proper force my rejection of the recent United States Supreme Court’s Bostock ruling concerning human sexuality. As president of The National Catholic Bioethics Center (NCBC), I am the head of an important institution dedicated to defending the dignity of the human person by drawing on the riches of the Catholic Church’s teachings and intellectual tradition. I have a responsibility to speak out.
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Modern medicine seems to theoretically understand the importance of sleep for our health. But frequently hospital settings do not prioritize this vital need of patients. Catholic health care and Catholic bioethics can take a lead in changing this.
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The Church must demand that fundamental rights be respected. A crisis is not an excuse for human rights violations. Rather it calls for greater accommodation and compassion for believers in danger of death, who may need a priest even more than a doctor as they prepare to meet their Maker.
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The global response to COVID-19 is a unique moment of unity and solidarity when humanity has mobilized to save lives. However, as scientists race to develop a cure, we cannot silently assent to the development of vaccines and treatments using cell lines derived from aborted fetuses.The problem of tolerating or even promoting evil in science and medicine will only be resolved through strong engagement to demand moral options both by individuals and institutions.
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The pandemic is not a good excuse to put aside our ethical and moral principles. We must rather uphold them more strongly, as they will help us to come through these trying times well. If we allow scientific research to be done in an unethical way, or permit patients to be unjustly discriminated against in triage protocols and so on, we shall emerge from this crisis ashamed of what we allowed the response to the pandemic to do to our values.
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When individuals take strong emotions like fear and mistake them for or convert them into sexual arousal, it can have very detrimental effects because a person in the grip of strong emotions is not thinking clearly. We should be aware of this phenomenon in order to stand firm against it. What are some ways we can resist?
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Isolating at home and social distancing as sensible public health measures have been explained and re-explained by experts. The forced confinement of so many has led to some hilarious posts online. It is good to joke and find comic relief in the midst of difficulties and tragedy. But sadly, for many people, these past few weeks have been a descent into isolated darkness. What should we do?
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