Ethics Resources

This publication from the Catholic Health Association incorporates the original text of the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services alongside annotations from ethicists throughout the Catholic health care ministry. Annotations include commentary, literature, and links to online articles that can help guide your understanding of this crucial document. Presented in simple top-to-bottom alignment with the original text, The Ethical and Religious Directives: Annotations by the Catholic Health Association of the United States is a must-have resource for any heath care facility or system looking to carry on Jesus’ loving ministry now and into the future.Since their initial conception in 1948, the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services – commonly referred to as the ERDs – have served as a moral compass for Catholic health care. Grounded in important aspects of Catholic Social Teaching such as the inherent dignity of all people and the common good, the ERDs have long served as a critical document when facing emerging dilemmas and questions facing the ministry regarding social justice, technology, etc.

This discernment guide is a companion to a series of resources from CHA to guide and support leaders in their critical responsibilities to advance and safeguard the health ministry of the Catholic Church. We hope this guide will help foster greater clarity and effectiveness in strategic decision-making in considering the impact of potential decisions on the Catholic identity and mission of organizations in service to the common good.

This discernment guide is a companion to a series of resources from the Catholic Health Association of the United States to guide and support leaders in their critical responsibilities to advance and safeguard the health ministry of the Catholic Church. We hope this guide will help foster greater clarity and effectiveness in strategic decision-making in considering the impact of potential decisions on the Catholic identity and mission of organizations in service to the common good.

Designed to foster ongoing efforts for ethics excellence in Catholic health organizations, the resource identifies the type and range of ethics services that support organizational identity and integrity as well as recommended standards for achieving the highest standard of performance in these services. The resource also provides Assessment Tools to evaluate ethics services, a tool to support quality improvement and strategic planning and an Index of Resources for additional reference and learning.

This brochure highlights the roles of mission leaders and ethicists in Catholic health care, fleshing out the education and competencies typically associated with both roles as well as explaining responsibilities and activities involved in the day-to-day work. It is part of CHA’s Faithfully Forward initiative; an ongoing project to focus on succession planning for mission, ethics and pastoral care.  Developed to help attract candidates to Catholic health care, it is offered in a ready-to-use format as well as customizable versions for members.

This booklet compiles current trends, practices and samples of creative ideas for creating or enhancing fellowship and internship opportunities in Catholic health care organizations. Part of CHA’s Faithfully Forward initiative to support its members in talent management, succession planning and recruitment for the mission and ethicist roles, it answers questions members have posed to CHA about supporting the career paths for these important ministry roles.

As Catholic individuals and health care organizations increasingly enter into relationships with other groups, many of whom may not share Catholic values, they can find themselves asking how they can act with integrity when the good that they try to do in serving needs of the community seems to butt up against the apparent wrongdoing of others who do not share the moral values and ethical principles of the Catholic health ministry.It was to respond to issues like these that the Catholic moral tradition developed the Principle of Cooperation.In light of the complexity and importance of the Principle of Cooperation in today's environment of accelerating mergers, partnerships and collaborations with secular and other-than-Catholic entities, CHA has produced this collection of resources to provide information and guidance about the nature of the principle and its application to the ministry.