Catholic Medical Quarterly Volume 74(3) Aug 2024
Reports
“Dignitas Infinita”.
Catholic Medical Association Ethics Committee.
Minutes of Meeting
held On-Line on Saturday 8th June 2024
Canon John O’Leary chaired, and opened the meeting at 10.15am with prayers.
Canon
John explained that this April’24 Declaration from the Dicastery for the
Doctrine of the Faith on Human Dignity was important as it covered not
just the Gender Issues which the Press picked up on, but so many more of
the aspects of Human Dignity that touch us as Healthcare workers. The
document had been over 4 years in the making, and itemized all the various
aspects of Human Dignity, some of which had faded from “Modern Awareness”.
Derived from the Teachings of the Church over the centuries, this document
emphasizes that we are all created in the “Image of God”, and hence have
inalienable dignity.
The ontological dignity (nature of our “being”) had been reaffirmed by the excellent “Universal Declaration of Human Rights” over 75 years ago, in 1948. Recent Popes, especially St John Paul II & Benedict XVI have emphasized this dignity and held that it is a duty of the Church to uphold it. If God has infinite love for us, so must we love one another, as Christ taught us. Pope Francis has invited the Church to “believe in a Father who loves all men and women with an infinite love”, thus conferring upon us “infinite dignity”.
The document states that we cannot lose our dignity for any reason; each Human Being having a unique dignity. It describes a fourfold distinction of the concept of dignity: Ontological(because of “being”), Moral(because of our freedom), Social(our right to earn a reasonable living) & Existential(our way of dying). While these days we are better at recognizing problems with Slavery, Racism, Rights of Children and Women, we are worse on matters of “Life” like abortion & euthanasia.
The widespread problem of Poverty cries out for action, for though wealth seems to increase, the gap between rich & poor becomes greater. We may be born into a poor or rich country, or a poor or rich family, but should be able to improve our social dignity. The problems of migrants from poverty & violence are apparent. Human trafficking is a problem. Similarly the scourge of War wreaks suffering on many round the world, and the old theory of a “Just War” is getting more difficult to justify with extent of destruction caused by modern weapons.
The problems of Sexual Abuse, Violence & Neglect of Women, Children & the Disabled, Abortion, Surrogacy, Euthanasia & Assisted Suicide are well known to us. And finally Gender Theory & Sex Change were dealt with clearly; our physical characteristics are a gift from God, our Creator, and are not to be changed by us.
Even the problems of this Digital Age were touched upon, with all its dangers of exploitation & distortions of the Truth. We must constantly find ways of steering this medium towards the benefit of mankind. Canon John finished by reading out the Conclusion, which called for the Dignity of the Human Person to be placed at the center of the commitment to the Common Good & every legal system. As Pope Francis asked us all “throughout the world not to forget this Dignity, which is ours. No one has the right to take it from us”.
There followed DISCUSSION about how Society now is much more fixated on individual choice. Problems of Conscience impinge on our work and lead to increasing problems of “whistle- blowers” coming to unfair dismissal Tribunals (where one of our members is sometimes being a “McKenzie Friend”). Though we believe all our patients are made in the Image of God, our Society starts to differentiate individuals more; where years on from the 1948 Declaration, individual Governments decide when life starts and finishes. IVF & Surrogacy have muddied our understanding of these concepts. The World Medical Association (WMA), after 1948, kept the Hippocratic ban on Abortion until 1983, when it changed to protecting “Human Life from its beginning” & then in 2005, just “protect Human Life”.
This valuable Document does cover almost everything we worry about, but how to get others, in our increasingly Secular Society, to agree is the problem. We must keep our voice heard at the BMA meetings, where increasingly “Utilitarian” solutions get proposed. Some Secular values are the same as ours and it is good to see the WMA still holding out against the “onward referral” demand. Muslim & Jewish staff would agree with many of our beliefs. Though we may not agree with what our patients are doing and do not have to directly “give in” to their demands, we must treat them with compassion & accompany them on the path they have chosen. The example of Natural Family Planning was quoted, which even Catholics rarely use (5%); still we can accompany them.
It led on to the poor teaching of Ethics at our Medical Schools, and the hope that Ethics Courses and possible Medical School developments at St Mary’s University, Twickenham, might improve this situation.
The meeting finished with prayer at 11.35am.
Dr Steve Brennan.
The Ethics Committee meets quarterly and is open to all members of the
CMA(UK).