By US Conference of Catholic Bishops -
Bishops release new edition of health care directives
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops is publishing the sixth edition of the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services, a revision that implements modifications regarding collaborating with non-Catholic partners.
These revised Directives, approved by majority vote during the USCCB Spring General Assembly 2018, aim to reaffirm ethical standards of behavior and provide authoritative guidance on moral issues that face health care today.
This new edition offers a helpful update of Part Six, “Collaborative Arrangements with Other Health Care Organizations and Providers.” The Directives are especially relevant to institutionally based Catholic health care services, and they are directly addressed to “sponsors, trustees, administrators, chaplains, physicians, health care personnel, and patients or residents” of Catholic health care institutions.
The Directives are also useful as a teaching tool to give sound guidance to students and faculty at Catholic medical schools, Catholic medical associations, Catholic hospitals and medical facilities, and to all pastors, administrators, doctors, nurses, and staff involved in the health care ministry and related pastoral care.
The USCCB has made the book available for order online at: http://store.usccb.org/searchresults.asp?Search=ethical+and+religious
New book compiles Pope Francis' 'Embrace of Hope' for the sick
The U.S. bishops are making available a new book, "Pope Francis: Embrace of Hope - Compassion in Times of Illness." The book is filled with the Pope’s insight and inspiration for all who face the test of sickness and illness.
This work is a collection of Pope Francis’s most significant words to the sick. It is a series of valuable reflections, considerations, and prayers taken from his speeches, messages, homilies, and Angeluses over a period of about four years, from his election to the See of Peter to June 2017.
Presented in an elegant design, this small book is easy to take with you and an important read for all those facing illness, for caregivers, health care professionals, as well as health care professionals, educators and researchers.
The USCCB has made the book available for order online at http://store.usccb.org/pope-francis-embrace-of-hope-p/7-584.htm
$4.1 Million in grants going to Church in Latin America
WASHINGTON | The U.S. Bishops' Subcommittee on the Church in Latin America has awarded $3.39 million in funding in the form of 206 grants to support the pastoral work of the Church in Latin America and the Caribbean, and $580,950 in three grants funding emergency disaster and recovery assistance to areas affected by the Mexican Earthquakes and Hurricanes Matthew (2016), Irma and Maria (2017).
In addition, the Subcommittee approved a design-phase request of $150,000 for the eventual reconstruction of the national major seminary devastated by the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. Projects that received funding for pastoral activities include the following:
- Haiti and Uruguay: Support for several families to participate in the 9th World Meeting of Families in Dublin, Ireland, August 21-26, 2018.
- Nicaragua and El Salvador: Support for several delegates from the National Commission of Youth Ministry to participate in World Youth Day in Panama City, Panama, January 22-27, 2019.
- Mexico: Support for “The Year of Mexican Youth - A Moment of Grace,” a national event that will include a celebration at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe with an anticipated 13,000 participants.
- Brazil: Pastoral support for Venezuelan refugees. This project will help implement and develop a migrant ministry in the diocese of Roraima and provide pastoral support to the recent influx of Venezuelan migrants to the area. The project aims to welcome and orient vulnerable migrants upon arrival, assist with access to services, provide language instruction and job training, strengthen women’s groups, support the migrants’ faith lives, and form local pastoral leaders and parishes to assist with immigrant integration.
Grants are funded by the annual Collection for the Church in Latin America, taken in many dioceses across the U.S. on the fourth Sunday in January. The emergency and reconstruction grants are awarded from the special collections the USCCB calls for after a disaster.
More information about the Collection for the Church in Latin America and the many grants it funds, as well as resources to promote it across the country, can be found at www.usccb.org/latin-america.
Statement on Cardinal Theodore McCarrick announcement
WASHINGTON | Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, issued the following statement in response to the announcement that an allegation of sexual abuse against retired Washington Cardinal Theodore McCarrick had been found “credible and substantiated.”
Here is Cardinal DiNardo’s full statement:
“As clergy in God’s Church, we have made a
solemn promise to protect children and young people from all harm. This
sacred charge applies to all who minister in the Church, no matter the person’s
high standing or long service. This morning was a painful reminder of how
only through continued vigilance can we keep that promise. My prayers are with
all who have experienced the trauma of sexual abuse. May they find
healing in Christ’s abundant love. TheCharter for the Protection of Children and Young People outlines a process
for addressing allegations, holding us accountable to our commitment to protect
and heal. I express my gratitude to Cardinal Dolan, who has carried
forward with clarity, compassion for the victims, and a genuine sense of
justice. With him, I express my deep sadness, and on behalf of the Church, I
apologize to all who have been harmed by one of her ministers.”
