Posted: February 16th, 2023
Ethical and Religious Directives for
Catholic Health Care Services
Sixth Edition
UNITED STATES CONFERENCE OF CATHOLIC BISHOPS
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Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services, Sixth Edition
This sixth edition of the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services was
developed by the Committee on Doctrine of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB)
and approved by the USCCB at its June 2018 Plenary Assembly. This edition of the Directives replaces
all previous editions, is recommended for implementation by the diocesan bishop, and is authorized for
publication by the undersigned.
Msgr. J. Brian Bransfield, STD
General Secretary, USCCB
Excerpts from The Documents of Vatican II, ed. Walter M. Abbott, SJ, copyright © 1966 by America
Press are used with permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture texts used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, copyright © 1991, 1986, and
1970 by the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, DC, 20017 and are used by permission of
the copyright owner. All rights reserved.
Digital Edition, June 2018
Copyright © 2009, 2018, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Washington, DC. All rights
reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic
or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system,
without permission in writing from the copyright holder.
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Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services, Sixth Edition
Contents
4 Preamble
6 General Introduction
8 PART ONE
The Social Responsibility of
Catholic Health Care
Services
10 PART TWO
The Pastoral and Spiritual
Responsibility of Catholic
Health Care
13 PART THREE
The Professional-Patient Relationship
16 PART FOUR
Issues in Care for the Beginning of Life
20 PART FIVE
Issues in Care for the Seriously Ill
and Dying
23 PART SIX
Collaborative Arrangements with
Other Health Care Organizations and Providers
27 Conclusion
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Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services, Sixth Edition
Preamble
Health care in the United States is marked by extraordinary change. Not only is there
continuing change in clinical practice due to technological advances, but the health care system
in the United States is being challenged by both institutional and social factors as well. At the
same time, there are a number of developments within the Catholic Church affecting the
ecclesial mission of health care. Among these are significant changes in religious orders and
congregations, the increased involvement of lay men and women, a heightened awareness of
the Church’s social role in the world, and developments in moral theology since the Second
Vatican Council. A contemporary understanding of the Catholic health care ministry must take
into account the new challenges presented by transitions both in the Church and in American
society.
Throughout the centuries, with the aid of other sciences, a body of moral principles has
emerged that expresses the Church’s teaching on medical and moral matters and has proven to
be pertinent and applicable to the ever-changing circumstances of health care and its delivery. In
response to today’s challenges, these same moral principles of Catholic teaching provide the
rationale and direction for this revision of the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic
Health Care Services.
These Directives presuppose our statement Health and Health Care published in 1981.1
There we presented the theological principles that guide the Church’s vision of health care,
called for all Catholics to share in the healing mission of the Church, expressed our full
commitment to the health care ministry, and offered encouragement to all those who are
involved in it. Now, with American health care facing even more dramatic changes, we
reaffirm the Church’s commitment to health care ministry and the distinctive Catholic identity
of the Church’s institutional health care services.2 The purpose of these Ethical and Religious
Directives then is twofold: first, to reaffirm the ethical standards of behavior in health care that
flow from the Church’s teaching about the dignity of the human person; second, to provide
authoritative guidance on certain moral issues that face Catholic health care today.
The Ethical and Religious Directives are concerned primarily with institutionally based
Catholic health care services. They address the sponsors, trustees, administrators, chaplains,
physicians, health care personnel, and patients or residents of these institutions and services.
Since they express the Church’s moral teaching, these Directives also will be helpful to Catholic
professionals engaged in health care services in other settings. The moral teachings that we
profess here flow principally from the natural law, understood in the light of the revelation
Christ has entrusted to his Church. From this source the Church has derived its understanding
of the nature of the human person, of human acts, and of the goals that shape human activity.
The Directives have been refined through an extensive process of consultation with bishops,
theologians, sponsors, administrators, physicians, and other health care providers. While providing
standards and guidance, the Directives do not cover in detail all of the complex issues that confront
Catholic health care today. Moreover, the Directives will be reviewed periodically by the United
States Conference of Catholic Bishops (formerly the National Conference of Catholic Bishops), in
the light of authoritative church teaching, in order to address new insights from theological and
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After studying the course materials located on Module 7: Lecture Materials & Resources page, answer the following:
Submission Instructions:
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Syllabus
WEEK 7: NUTRITION AND HYDRATION /PERSISTENT VEGETATIVE STATE (PVS)
Module 7
Watch:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yxIRjW9x7w&t=3437s BIO 603 3 24 18
ERD 32, 33, 34, 56, 57, 58
1. Cure / care: compare and contrast.
2. Basic care: Nutrition, hydration, shelter, human interaction.
a. Are we morally obliged to this? Why?
3. Swallow test, describe; when is it indicated?
4. When is medically assisted N/H indicated?
a. Briefly describe Enteral Nutrition (EN), including:
i. NJ tube
ii. NG tube
iii. PEG
b. Briefly describe Parenteral Nutrition (PN), including:
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i. Total parenteral nutrition
ii. Partial parenteral nutrition
5. Bioethical analysis of N/H; state the basic principle and briefly describe the two exceptions.
6. Case Study: Terry Schiavo (EXCEL FILE IN CANVAS). Provide a bioethical analysis of her case; should we
continue with the PEG or not? Why yes or why not?
1963 | BORN | 3-Dec-63 |
Theresa (Terri) Marie Schindler is born in Pennsylvania. | ||
10-Nov-84 | ||
1984 | MARRIED | Terri Schindler, 20, and Michael Schiavo, 21, are married at Our Lady of Good Counsel Church in Southhampton, Pennsylvania. The union is now among the “celebrity marriages” featured at About.com, a Website about marriage. |
(20 Y/O) | 1986 | |
The couple move to St. Petersburg, where Ms. Schiavo’s parents had retired. | ||
25-Feb-90 | ||
1990 | COLLAPSE | Ms. Schiavo suffers cardiac arrest, apparently caused by a potassium imbalance and leading to brain damage due to lack of oxygen. She was taken to the Humana Northside Hospital and was later given a percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) to provide nutrition and hydration. Police report |
PEG | 12-May-90 | |
(26 Y/0) | Ms. Schiavo is discharged from the hospital and taken to the College Park skilled care and rehabilitation facility. | |
18-Jun-90 | ||
Court appoints Michael Schiavo as guardian; Ms. Schiavo’s parents do not object. | ||
30-Jun-90 | ||
Ms. Schiavo is transferred to Bayfront Hospital for further rehabilitation efforts. | ||
Sep-90 | ||
Ms. Schiavo’s family brings her home, but three weeks later they return her to the College Park facility because the family is “overwhelmed by Terri’s care needs.” | ||
Nov-90 | ||
Michael Schiavo takes Ms. Schiavo to California for experimental “brain stimulator” treatment, an experimental “thalamic stimulator implant” in her brain. | ||
Jan-91 | ||
The Schiavos return to Florida; Ms. Schiavo is moved to the Mediplex Rehabilitation Center in Brandon where she receives 24-hour care. | ||
19-Jul-91 | ||
Ms. Schiavo is transferred to Sable Palms skilled care facility where she receives continuing neurological testing, and regular and aggressive speech/occupational therapy through 1994. | ||
May-92 | ||
Ms. Schiavo’s parents, Robert and Mary Schindler, and Michael Schiavo stop living together. | ||
Aug-92 | ||
1992 | 1/4 M AWARD | Ms. Schiavo is awarded $250,000 in an out-of-court medical malpractice settlement with one of her physicians. |
Nov-92 | ||
1992 | 1 M AWARD | The jury in the medical malpractice trial against another of Ms. Schiavo’s physicians awards more than one million dollars. In the end, after attorneys’ fees and other expenses, Michael Schiavo received about $300,000 and about $750,000 was put in a trust fund specifically for Ms. Schiavo’s medical care. |
(750Th TRUST) | 14-Feb-93 | |
Michael Schiavo and the Schindlers have a falling-out over the course of therapy for Ms. Schiavo; Michael Schiavo claims that the Schindlers demand that he share the malpractice money with them. | ||
29-Jul-93 | ||
Schindlers attempt to remove Michael Schiavo as Ms. Schiavo’s guardian; the court later dismisses the suit. | ||
1-Mar-94 | ||
First guardian ad litem, John H. Pecarek, submits his report. He states that Michael Schiavo has acted appropriately and attentively toward Ms. Schiavo. | ||
6-May-97 | ||
Michael Schiavo’s attorney Deborah Bushnell writes to the Circuit Court to request that the Schindlers receive notice of all filings in the guardianship proceeding, in anticipation of a forthcoming request to withdraw Ms. Schiavo’s PEG tube. | ||
May-98 | ||
~1990 | INFIDELITY | Michael Schiavo was in a relationship with Jodi Centonze, and had fathered their first child. He said he chose not to divorce his wife and relinquish guardianship because he wanted to ensure her final wishes (not to be kept alive in a PVS) were carried out. |
1998 | MICHAEL | Michael Schiavo petitions the court to authorize the removal of Ms. Schiavo’s PEG tube; the Schindlers oppose, saying that she would want to remain alive. The court appoints Richard Pearse, Esq., to serve as the second guardian ad litem for Ms. Schiavo. |
PET PEG OUT | 20-Dec-98 | |
1998 | TERRI | The second guardian ad litem, Richard Pearse, Esq., issues his report in which he concludes that Ms. Schiavo is in a persistent vegetative state with no chance of improvement and that Michael Schiavo’s decision-making may be influenced by the potential to inherit the remainder of Ms. Schiavo’s estate. |
PVS OFFICIAL | January 24-27, 2000 | |
Trial begins with Pinellas-Pasco County Circuit Court Judge George Greer presiding. | ||
2000 | JUDGE GREER | 11-Feb-00 |
REMOVE PEG | Judge Greer rules that Ms. Schiavo would have chosen to have the PEG tube removed, and therefore he orders it removed, which, according to doctors, will cause her death in approximately 7 to 14 days. | |
2-Mar-00 | ||
2000 | SCHINDLERS | The Schindlers file a petition with Judge Greer to allow “swallowing” tests to be performed on Ms. Schiavo to determine if she can consume—or learn to consume—nutrients on her own. |
PET SWALLOW | 7-Mar-00 | |
2000 | GREER | Judge Greer denies the Schindlers’ petition to perform “swallowing” tests on Ms. Schiavo.
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SOLUTION
The Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services provide guidance and norms for Catholic health care institutions and their personnel in carrying out their ministry of healing. The Directives are based on Catholic moral principles, the teachings of the Catholic Church, and the dignity of the human person.
The Directives cover a wide range of topics, including the protection and promotion of human life, the provision of care for the sick and dying, the use of medical treatments and procedures, and the role of Catholic health care institutions in the community.
In addition to providing guidance for Catholic health care institutions, the Directives also address the responsibilities of individual health care professionals, including physicians, nurses, and other caregivers. The Directives emphasize the importance of respecting the dignity of every person, regardless of their age, health, or social status.
Overall, the Ethic
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