The Difference Catholic Makes: Catholic Faculty and Catholic Identity

This study examines, for the case of Catholics, the thesis that a "critical mass" of devoted faculty members—50 percent or more, according to the papal document Ex Corde Ecclesia—serves to promote or preserve the religious character of religiously affiliated institutions of higher education. Factor analysis and structural equations are employed to analyze a random sample of faculty members ( n = 1,290) and institutional profiles ( n = 100) of American Catholic colleges and universities. Catholic faculty show higher support for Catholic identity in latent structures of aspiration for improved Catholic distinctiveness, a desire for more theology or philosophy courses, and longer institutional tenure. Institutions having a majority of Catholic faculty exhibit four properties consistent with stronger Catholic identity: a policy of preferential hiring for Catholics ("hiring for mission"), a higher proportion of Catholic students, higher faculty aspiration for Catholic identity, and longer faculty tenure in the institution. These latter two characteristics are not due simply to aggregation, but are stronger, on average, for Catholic faculty when they are in the majority. Preferential hiring marks Catholic identity, but is ineffective to increase the proportion of Catholic faculty. I conclude that the prediction of the critical mass thesis is correct.     

Catholic hospitals and Catholic identity.

Catholic hospitals seek to offer health care in accord with the example of Christ. They have several models to assist in this effort. The first model is the values portrayed in the Gospels. The Catholic Church has sought to embody these Gospel values in specific teachings. These teachings have been further specified for hospitals in the United States by the National Conference of Catholic Bishops in the Ethical and Religious Directives. Finally, the Gospels values are also expressed for individual Catholic health care systems in mission statements and statements of Catholic identity. This article examines the worth of mission and identity statements, and explains that the statements must be put into practice through a process of internalization before they will be able to be of worth to the Catholic health care apostolate.     

Nursing Practices in Catholic Healthcare: A Case Study of Nurses in a Catholic Private Hospital

We aimed to investigate Catholic Identity and Mission communication specifically how nurses were expressing the Catholic healthcare values in practice. A mixed-methods, case study design was used and included non-participant observation, a mid-level manager focus group (n = 7) and online surveys (n = 144). Document and observational data analysis revealed the organisation’s commitment to visible indication of Catholic values adherence. Focus group analysis revealed two themes, ‘Catholic values in action’ and ‘taking the extra step’. The impact of Catholic Identity and Mission on nurses and nursing care recipients remains elusive and warrants further understanding.     

Catholic Reflections for an Updated Donum Vitae Instruction: A New Catholic Challenge in a Post-Christian Europe

On February 22, 1987, the Congregation for the Doctrine of theFaith published the Donum Vitae Instruction. Twenty years later,on February 22, 2007, Pope Benedict XVI asked for an updateof this Instruction. According to the Donum Vitae Instructionof 1987, the principle of the holiness of life imposes respectfor human persons from the very beginning of human life. Inthese past 20 years, new medical techniques have raised freshethical issues that are to be addressed by the Roman CatholicChurch Magisterium. The Roman Catholic Church, in its updateof the Instruction planned for 2007, will have to explain howcivil law is to be regulated according to the fundamental normsof the moral law. The moral message of the new Donum Vitae (justas in the 1987 version) will be to affirm the substance of humanjustice: respect for human life, as expressed in the resolvenot to infringe on, or to protect such life. Even in a post-ChristianEurope, this theological message can be understood if it istrue that Europe is marked by the principle of the absoluteprotection of human life.     

Catholic Theological Education in a Religiously Pluralistic Age

Abstract. This article describes the transformation of Catholic theological education over the last fifty years from a highly defensive posture vis‐à‐vis other religions toward dialogical engagement with members of other religions and all persons of good will. Until Vatican II, most Catholic theologians and officials distrusted exploration of other religions as leading to a dilution of Catholic identity. Vatican II condemned anti‐Semitism and called for dialogue among religions in pursuit of common values. Since the Council, there have been developments in interfaith education on three levels: religious studies, comparative theology, and inter‐religious practice.     

Catholic Social Teaching as a Framework for Research Ethics

The importance of having ethical oversight in research that is carried out on humans is well established. Research ethics, which is mainly influenced by a biomedical ethical framework, aims to ensure that the well-being and the rights of research participants are upheld and that any potential risks and harms are reduced. However, research is also considered to be a social activity with social effects. Therefore the principles of Catholic Social Teaching as a framework for research ethics may be significant. This paper outlines those principles and demonstrates how these principles may be used for: (1) reflecting ethically on research (i.e. before the project begins), (2) judging a research ethics proposal (i.e. the ethical review) and (3) providing guidelines for action in research (i.e. the implementation of the research project).