CHA Senior Director for Ethics Fr. Thomas Nairn, OFM, is confirmed to a four-year appointment as the ecclesiastical advisor of the International Catholic Committee of Nurses and Medico-Social Assistants.
As ecclesiastical adviser, Fr. Nairn serves as the liaison between the organization and the Catholic Church. His primary responsibility is to attend to the spiritual and ethical welfare of the association's members.
Fr. Nairn was appointed by the Pontifical Council for the Laity; his appointment was confirmed by council president Cardinal Stanislaw Rylko on March 6.
The committee's aims include promoting basic and advanced nursing education and professional research; representing the professional and Christian interests of its members; promoting the spiritual welfare and ethical values of its members; promoting health and social measures of health, following Catholic principles and professional development and promoting cooperation among member organizations.
The committee, founded in 1933, is a juridic person under canon law. It is a member of the World Health Organization and has representation on United Nations committees related to health. The committee is made up of 60 national Catholic nurse councils organized into five regional secretariats for the Americas, Asia, Europe and two in Africa.
Fr. Nairn has worked with the committee for four years previously. Much of his spiritual and ethical work is done through electronic communication with its members, and face-to-face meetings including an annual gathering in Rome, a general assembly every four years and regional assemblies elsewhere in the world.
Fr. Nairn said of his work, "It's another way for CHA to serve health care beyond our borders." He said those on the committee are serious about medicine, health care and faith. He said the international membership allows a wider perspective on different systems of health care around the world, and camaraderie among those in health care from many nations.
Copyright © 2015 by the Catholic Health Association
of the United States
For reprint permission, contact Betty Crosby or call (314) 253-3477.