The Catholic Church’s teachings on ethical issues arising in healthcare delivery and biomedical science are distributed across a plethora of different places ranging from papal allocutions, encyclicals, instructions by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and guidance documents authored by various congregations of bishops. Furthermore, they are distributed throughout time ranging from, for example, the Didache (or teaching of the 12 apostles, circa 1st Century), to Pope Pius XII’s address in 1954 addressing ethical issues in transplantation, and onto the 2009 instruction entitled Dignitas personae. It is difficult for a wider audience to make sense of these sources on the various issues arising in healthcare delivery and scientific research, but the editors of A Catechism for Health Care have collated them in a way that makes them easier to understand The purpose of this book is to present the teachings of the Catholic Church as they pertain to ethical issues arising in the healthcare and biomedical sciences. The premise of the project is that the Catholic Church’s teaching speaks in an accessible way to a wide range of people concerned about healthcare ethics. It is important to present these teachings concisely. The book is ordered around numerous questions concerning the most common practices in health care that have ethical dimensions. It then provides concise answers to these questions as are found in various magisterial Church documents. These answers are refreshingly clear and to the point.

Catholic health care is about ethics but also "ethos" – not only what we shouldn't do but a vision for what we should do with love. The issues it faces don't just concern academic bioethicists – they concern every faithful Catholic doctor, nurse, practitioner, and even patient. Modern medical practitioners on the ground, day-in, day-out, wrestling with medical moral matters, witnessing what is happening in American medicine today, while also striving to witness to their Catholic faith in living out their medical vocation – these are the primary authors of this unique book, and these are the readers it hopes to serve.

Catholic Witness in Health Care integrates the theoretical presentation of Catholic medical ethics with real life practice. It begins with fundamental elements of Catholic care, touching upon Scripture, moral philosophy, theology, Christian anthropology, and pastoral care. The second part features Catholic clinicians illuminating authentic Catholic medical care in their various medical disciplines: gynecology and reproductive medicine, fertility, pediatrics, geriatrics, critical care, surgery, rehabilitation, psychology, and pharmacy. Part three offers unique perspectives concerning medical education, research, and practice, with an eye toward creating a cultural shift to an authentically Catholic medical ethos.

Readers of this book will learn essential elements upon which the ethics of Catholic medical practice is founded and gain insights into practicing medicine and caring for others in an authentically Catholic way.