Advancing Catholic Health Ministry

The development of health care systems across the world has been a dynamic process shaped by a myriad of political, economic, social and religious factors.

My first health care encounters came at an early age, not because of a single illness, but because constant medical intervention was woven into the fabric of my childhood. I grew up in a four-generation home comprised of my great-grandmother, my grandfather, my mother, my twin brother and myself.

Emergencies, disasters and catastrophes have been present on Earth since its creation and will continue for however long our planet survives.

Maurice Washington always carried a gun on the streets of Richmond, Virginia. Two of his friends were shot to death in front of him. He served time in prison for armed robbery. When he talks about guns, people listen.

In my earliest days as a nurse, I learned that care is more than clinical expertise; it’s presence, compassion and empathy. I remember standing beside a mother who, after hours of labor, faced an unexpected cesarean section.

Across the country, the people who need care most are often the ones who struggle to access it. For Ascension, expanding access is both a health care imperative and an expression of our Catholic mission to honor human dignity and serve all, especially those who are poor and vulnerable.

As states and health systems prepare for sweeping changes to Medicaid under legislation that passed last year, including new mandatory “community engagement” (work, education, training and related activities) for many adults outlined in H.R. 1, Catholic health care leaders have a distinctive lens to bring to implementation: the moral vision articulated in Pope Leo XIV’s 2025 apostolic exhortation Dilexi Te (I Have Loved You).

In the summer and fall of 2025, the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) conducted a survey of those working in professional spiritual care within Catholic health ministries in the United States.

This issue of Health Progress focuses on Seeking New Solutions in health care. We delve into several of the major issues affecting health care and society, highlighting policy, programs and approaches that make a positive difference or offer education in areas where health care systems can learn from one another.

On Nov. 12, 2025, the seventh edition of the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services (ERDs) was officially released by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) in Baltimore. For those of us working in the Catholic health care ministry, this was big news with significant implications for our work.