Symposium for the Advancement of Catholic Health Care

The Center for Law and the Human Person at The Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law (Catholic Law) hosted on Thursday, November 9 the 2023 Symposium for the Advancement of Catholic Healthcare, an initiative of the Catholic Health Care Leadership Alliance (CHCLA). Entitled “Health Care Policy Through the Lens of Catholic Teaching,” the symposium brought together scholars in medicine, bioethics, law, and philosophy; healthcare professionals; policy experts; Catholic University faculty and students; as well as a large contingent of religious sisters from Franciscan Health, a healthcare system operating in Illinois and Indiana. Speakers and participants discussed various challenges to providing and receiving health care and how law and public policy can better advance the fundamental principles upon which Catholic health care is based, including care for the poor and vulnerable.

Panelists affiliated with the University included Elizabeth Kirk, Director of the Center for Law and the Human Person, who spoke briefly on the complementary missions of the Center and the CHCLA; Louis Brown, Associate Director of the Center for Law and the Human Person, who shared news about the establishment of the CHCLA’s new Institute for Public Policy and Advocacy; Lucia Silecchia, Associate Dean of Faculty Research at Catholic Law, who provided a Catholic perspective on guardianship policy; and Dr. Marie T. Nolan, Dean of The Catholic University of America Conway School of Nursing, who shared her perspective as both nurse and educator on the moral foundations of nursing. David C. Schindler of the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family set the tone for the day with a powerful lecture entitled, “Healing Health Care: A Catholic Perspective.”