The Center is committed to:
Responsiveness and Guidance
The needs of the Catholic health ministry drive the theological and ethical inquiry of the Center. The Center fosters and maintains close relationships to the leaders of the ministry, including bishops, CEOs, ethics and mission leaders, medical practitioners, and others engaged in Catholic health. The Center offers guidance for those in Catholic health, the bishops and the Church, and the world.
Centering Jesus and the Kingdom of God
The Center produces scholarship that witnesses to and promotes the healing ministry of Jesus Christ by reflecting on the Kingdom that Jesus inaugurated and preached. In concert with the Church, it aims to carry "forward the work of Christ himself under the lead of the befriending Spirit."
Promoting Human Dignity and the Common Good
The Center promotes the intrinsic human dignity of all persons, from conception to natural death. It endorses a consistent ethic of life, that all may "have life and have it more abundantly." Because the flourishing of each person is related to the flourishing of all persons, the Center examines the issues facing Catholic health ministries in light of the common good.
Fidelity to Church Teaching
The Center is faithful to the Church’s magisterial teaching. The theological, moral, and social teaching of the Church, including the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services, is the foundation of the Center’s reflection.
Alleviating Suffering
The Center produces scholarship that guides Catholic health in its mission to alleviate human suffering by taking inspiration from the healings of Jesus. The Center maintains a special focus on those who are poor and vulnerable.
Practicing Intellectual Charity
The Center strives to embody the highest standards of intellectual charity. It avoids ideological division in order to serve both the Church and society. The Center fosters intellectual debate in a spirit of collegiality.
Rigorous Theological Inquiry
The Center thoughtfully engages with the full breadth of the Catholic intellectual tradition. The Center draws on the best expression of Catholic theology and ethics in order to provide moral guidance for Catholic health. It is committed to producing scholarship that meets the highest standards of excellence regarding methodology, argumentation, and attribution.
Inductive Methodology
Inspired by the theology of encounter and the synodal path, the Center is committed to "theological reflection…with an inductive method, which starts from the different contexts and concrete situations in which people are inserted." In particular, it endeavors to put "those who experience poverty at the center and learning from them."
Transdisciplinarity
The Center employs a transdisciplinary methodology to encourage scholars and practitioners to go beyond their disciplinary boundaries to come to know the truth in Catholic healthcare ethics. The Center draws upon medical science, social science, philosophy, law, and psychology in order to "integrate them into a more mature synthesis" with Catholic theology and ethics.