Stories

On February 11 and 12, Santa Clara University hosted a conference called "Conscience and Catholic Health Care: From Clinical Contexts to Government Mandates." The event was co-sponsored by the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at SCU and the Catholic Health Association of the United States and featured an invited group of ethicists working on topics in Catholic health care talking intensively for two days about papers delivered on the topic. Among the SCU faculty members featured in the conference were Margaret McLean (Religious Studies), Karen Peterson-Iyer (Religious Studies), Gerald Coleman (Graduate Program in Pastoral Ministry), Lisa Fullam (Jesuit School of Theology of SCU), Larry Nelson (SCU Philosophy), and David DeCosse (Religious Studies). DeCosse co-chaired the conference with Father Tom Nairn, O.F.M., the chief ethicist of the Catholic Health Association. 

 

Some other ethicists that participated at the conference included: Cathleen Kaveny, Boston College; John Paris, S.J., Boston College; Shawnee Daniels-Sykes, Mount Mary University; Kristin Heyer, Boston College; Ron Hamel, Catholic Health Association, retired; Anne Patrick, S.N.J.M., Carleton College; Roberto Dell'Oro, Loyola Marymount University; Carol Taylor, Georgetown University; Carol Bayley, Dignity Health; Kevin Fitzpatrick, S.J., Georgetown University

 

The papers presented at the conference will be featured in a forthcoming book due out next year from Orbis Books. This is the second conference hosted by SCU on topics related to conscience and Catholicism. The first, held in September 2014, resulted in the Orbis book now out called "Conscience and Catholicism: Rights, Responsibilities, and Institutional Responses." The work on conscience has been supported by a generous gift from Mike and Phyllis Shea.