atholic health care is embedded in a moral tradition that has been formed by a profound dynamic between word and deed, thought and action, theory and practice. The ministry's words, thoughts, and theories have been informed by a larger faith tradition encompassing the Scriptures; the official teachings of the church; reflections and ideas of theologians; and the insights of philosophers, econom...

The remarkable scientific work on fertility preservation that is documented in the early chapters of this volume will inevitably give rise to moral and religious questions about the use of technology to reproduce. In this regard, oncofertility is no different from other forms of assisted reproduction that have led to extensive debate among ethicists and moral theologians. In the case of many fo...

Observations of apparently random phenomena are commonplace in science. However, randomness and Christian belief are often seen as incompatible, both by naturalists and by theists. This article argues that the scientific concept of randomness and the historic Christian understanding of God’s nature are compatible. It argues that the existence of randomness cannot be settled scientifically; neve...

A common argument among Catholic theologians and ethicists against sex reassignment surgery (SRS) is that it either violates the principle of totality or constitutes a direct sterilization. These procedures generally fall into one of three categories: breast (augmentation mammoplasty, subcutaneous mastectomy), genital (vaginectomy, hysterectomy, scrotoplasty, phalloplasty, penectomy, castration...

Quality of life: presentation of the concept In modern medicine the traditional way of assessing change in patients has been to focus on objective clinical or biological tests. While these do offer important information about pathological processes, it is impossible to separate the disease itself from an individual’s personal point of view and social perspective. One way of capturing these part...

The latest fad in Continental philosophy is an unexpected one. Goodbye to Lacan and Derrida and even Deleuze. Hello to the Apostle Paul. Atheist philosophers like Alain Badiou and Slavoj Zizek have coopted Paul to their own agendas, and in their wake Jewish thinkers like Jacob Taubes and radically orthodox Christian theologians (the usual suspects) have given fresh attention to the apostle. Of ...