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Christian Bioethics
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Roman Catholic Health Care Identity and Mission: Does Jesus Language
Matter?
Carol Taylor

To cite this Article Taylor, Carol(2001) 'Roman Catholic Health Care Identity and Mission: Does Jesus Language Matter?',
Christian Bioethics, 7: 1, 29 — 47
To link to this Article: DOI: 10.1076/chbi.7.1.29.3767
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1076/chbi.7.1.29.3767

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Christian Bioethics 1380-3603/01/0701-029$16.00
2001, Vol. 7, No. 1, 29±47 # Swets & Zeitlinger

Roman Catholic Health Care Identity and Mission:


Does Jesus Language Matter?
Carol Taylor, C.S.F.N.
Georgetown University, Washington, D.C., USA

ABSTRACT

This article examines the current use of Jesus language in a convenience sample of twenty-®ve
mission statements from Roman Catholic hospitals and health care systems in the United
States. Only twelve statements speci®cally use the words ``Jesus'' or ``Christ'' in their mission
statements. The author advocates the use of explicit Jesus language and modeling. While the
witness of Jesus in the Gospel healing narratives is not the only corrective to current abuses in
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the health care delivery system, it is foundational to the integrity of Roman Catholic health care
identity and mission. An analysis of Gospel healing narratives is used to illustrate the prophetic
dimension of Jesus' wisdom, word, and witness.

I. INTRODUCTION

As a member of the Catholic Health Association's Theology and Ethics


Research Group I have often sat at tables where the topic of discussion was the
use of Jesus language in Catholic health care communities and documents.
Proponents of using Jesus language argue that the mission of Roman Catholic
health care, pure and simple, is to continue the radical healing ministry of
Jesus Christ (See display box 1). Moreover, this needs to be proclaimed
unequivocally so that the Gospel of Jesus becomes the inspiration and model
for today's services. Those opposed to using Jesus language usually agree that
our mission is to continue the healing ministry of Jesus but believe that there
are ways to say this that are less alienating to our non-Christian public:
patients, staff, and the broader community. In the current age of partnering it
would appear to be to everyone's advantage to adopt a common language that

Correspondence: Carol Taylor, C.S.F.N., R.N., Ph.D., Center for Clinical Ethics, Georgetown
University, 4000 Reservoir Rd., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20007, USA.
30 CAROL TAYLOR

would facilitate mergers and af®liations. This article examines the current
use of Jesus language in a sample of Roman Catholic health care mission
statements and argues for explicit Jesus language. The argument is rooted in
the conviction that language and modeling matter and that nothing less than
Catholic Health Care's moral integrity is at stake.

II. STATE OF THE ART

A review of a convenience sample of twenty-®ve mission statements from


Catholic hospitals and health care systems around the country, all available on
the internet, reveals that only twelve speci®cally use the words ``Jesus'' or
``Christ'' in their mission statements. Typical examples of these follow.
Emphasis added.
 The mission of Catholic Health Partners is to advance and strengthen the
healing ministry of Jesus Christ (Catholic Health Partners, Chicago).
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 Faithful to the spirit of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Cross, the
Holy Cross Health System exists to witness Christ's love through excellence
in the delivery of health services motivated by respect for those we serve
(Holy Cross Health System, South Bend, Indiana).
Thirteen of the twenty-®ve mission statements sampled did not use Jesus lan-
guage. Statements ranged from a substitution of ``Church'' or ``Catholicity''
for ``Jesus'' to secular humanist language.
 The mission of Mercy Healthcare Arizona is to enhance the quality of
human life by fostering the healing ministry of the Catholic Church and the
Sisters of Mercy (Mercy Healthcare Arizona).
 The mission of Catholic Health Initiatives is to nurture the healing ministry
of the Church by bringing it new life, energy and viability in the 21st century
(Mercy Medical Center, Catholic Health Initiatives).
 Sacred Heart Health care System is committed to provide health care and
wellness, from conception to natural death, through quality services and
programs based on the Catholic ethical and religious directives (Sacred
Heart Health Care System, Eastern Pennsylvania Health Network).
 Saint John's Health Center is a Catholic institution dedicated to creating an
environment permeated by Christian values and serving the health needs of
people of all creeds, races, colors, sexes, and national origins (Saint John's
Health Center).
ROMAN CATHOLIC HEALTH CARE IDENTITY AND MISSION 31

 The mission of Saint Francis Care is to improve and enrich the lives of the
people in our region through clinical excellence, superior technology,
community outreach and education and dedication to the core values on
which we were founded (Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center,
Hartford, Connecticut).
The last statement might equally characterize any institution with a sincere
commitment to quality health care.

III. DOES THE USE OF JESUS LANGUAGE AND


MODELING MATTER?

A director of pastoral care in a large Catholic academic medical center


voiced dismay when he discovered that the department store Nordstrom
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was being touted as the model to direct the center's new patient /
``customer'' relations initiative. ``I was on my feet immediately suggesting
that as a Catholic medical center we ought to be able to do better than
Nordstrom. What happened to the healing ministry of Jesus?''

The question aptly posed by this vignette is whether or not it matters if health
care institutions and systems pose Jesus or Nordstrom as the model for their
employees. Many would argue that the service they receive at Nordstroms far
surpasses their experiences in health care, whether at a local emergency room,
surgical suite, nursing home, or community health center. Obviously then all
would be better served if Nordstrom earned-reputation for customer service
characterized relationships in health care settings. But are the relationships in
health care suf®ciently like customer relationships in a department store to
justify importing a commercial model into health care?
Nordstrom treats customers well in order to capture their loyalty. They want
customers to return to Nordstrom and favor them with their disposable
income. While capturing patient loyalty and community dollars is necessarily
valued more today in health care than ever before, it is not the whole of the
mission of Catholic health care institutions and systems. We are not merely
businesses which exist to make money. While an expert salesclerk and
medical resident might be identical in their approach to a confused older
person, the salesclerk is hoping to make a sale while the medical resident
32 CAROL TAYLOR

seeks to bene®t the older person and promote his or her health. For this reason
Catholic health care needs a model committed to the health and well-being of
the whole person.
That said, why not propose a secular health care model of clinical or
administrative excellence? A modern Hippocrates for physicians, Florence
Nightingale for nurses, and Stephen Covey for health care administrators?
These models are helpful and offer important characteristics for emulation. It
is, however, precisely because the motivation for who we are and what we do
in Catholic health care is different that we need a different model, a self-
effacing servant model rooted in Jesus healing ministry as illustrated in the
New Testament Gospel accounts of healing. With all the external forces
currently reshaping the fabric of health care and professional practice in this
country we need something akin to the powerful witness of Gospel care and
compassion to challenge any force that violates human dignity and wellbeing.
Gospel care and compassion is prophetic. It exhorts ®delity to a different
standard.
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IV. JESUS LANGUAGE, MODELING, AND MORAL INTEGRITY

Moral integrity is that condition or state in which moral activity (valuing,


choosing, acting) is intimately linked to a particular conception of the Good,
the Good Life. An individual who values moral integrity re¯ects carefully on
her vision of the good life and related moral ``rules,'' and then practices
acting out of this vision until virtue habituates her to characteristically
behave this way. The higher the value one attaches to moral integrity, the
more sensitive one becomes to the consequences of honoring and dishonor-
ing integrity.
Institutions, like individuals, similarly attach greater or lesser value to
moral integrity. When an institution's commitment to moral integrity is high,
one often ®nds a well developed commitment to organizational ethics. Potter
(1996) de®nes organizational ethics as the intentional use of values to guide
the decisions of a system. Its objective is to promote a good ``®t'' between the
system's stated mission and decision-making at all levels of the system.
Restated, organizational ethics is about organizational integrity, a commit-
ment to promote that condition or state in which the system's moral activity
(valuing, choosing, acting) is intimately linked to its conception of the Good,
in this case, what a morally good system looks like. Obviously, the ®rst step
ROMAN CATHOLIC HEALTH CARE IDENTITY AND MISSION 33

in developing an organizational ethics program is to develop and own a


conception of the Good institutional life. For Catholic health care there is no
way to do this apart from the Gospel accounts of Jesus' healing ministry.
Many of those now responsible for organizational ethics programs are
discovering that formation is the key to organizational integrity. Unlike
education which takes as its goal the transmission and assimilation of
knowledge, formation is concerned with character and with individuals
having a reason or motivation for choosing one alternative over another.
Fidelity to the example of Jesus, a respected and loved mentor, is a powerful
motivator.

V. JESUS, HEALING, AND GOSPEL CARE AND COMPASSION

A. Gospel care and compassion de®nes and blesses christians


As the New Testament scripture passages below make clear, it is love, Gospel
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care and compassion as lived by Jesus Christ, that de®nes and blesses
Christians. Loving service is not an option for Christians in general, let alone
for Christian health care professionals. To the extent that we choose to be
disciples it is of our very nature to serve one another. Caritas Christi urgeit
me. The love of Christ impels me. We minister to people with health needs not
primarily because ``it makes us feel good,'' or ``keeps us gainfully employed,''
or ``generates a pro®t,'' but because we are committed to continuing Jesus'
radical ministry of healing.

A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you
must love one another. By this all will know that you are my disciples, if
you love one another (Jn 13: 34).

When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he
will sit upon his glorious throne, and all the nations will be assembled
before him. And he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd
separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep on his right and
the goats on his left. The king will say to those on his right, ``Come, you
who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from
the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was
thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and
you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.''
34 CAROL TAYLOR

Then the righteous will answer him and say, ``Lord, when did we see you
hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you a drink? When did we see you
a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see
you ill or in prison, and visit you?'' And the king will say to them in reply,
``Amen, I say to you, whatever you did to one of these least brothers of
mine, you did for me'' (Mt 25: 31±40).

Gospel care and compassion de®nes the Christian and enables others to
recognize the disciples of Jesus. Moreover, it is the ability to care for one
another that signals our oneness with God. Responsive to God present in one
another ± particularly in the most vulnerable ± we are blessed. Gospel care and
compassion are not options for Christians involved in health care, they are life
itself!

B. Gospel care and compassion are prophetic in today's world


Those who take the Catholic health care mission seriously are obligated to be a
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positive and transformative force in today's world.

Again he said, ``To what shall I compare the kingdom of God? It is like
yeast that a woman took and mixed [in] with three measures of wheat ¯our
until the whole batch of dough was leavened'' (Lk 13: 20±21).

 God chose human caring in the person of Jesus as the means of salvation.
Individually and collectively each of us involved in Catholic health care
today is called to live that type of human caring which enables us by virtue
of our person to continue Jesus' salvi®c mission. A physician, ®nance
of®cer, or social worker who owns this mandate undergoes a profound
transformation and practices with a different view of self. His or her
professional practice is grounded in a ministry of presence which is, in and
of itself, healing. Administration, nursing, nutrition are vocations, not
merely jobs.
 The mission of Jesus was a prophetic mission ± one of conversion of hearts
and cultures. With the American public's trust in health care institutions and
professionals at an all time low it is not dif®cult to identify ways in which
hearts and the health care culture must change in order to be more
responsive to people with health care needs. We only need contemplate the
scandal of the increasing number of Americans, many of whom work full-
time, who lack access to health care.
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Table 1. Hallmarks of Gospel Caring.

Hallmarks Characteristics Challenges

Ministry of Presence: Attentiveness, a. Cultivated attentiveness to human a. In what ways have we grown indifferent to

ROMAN CATHOLIC HEALTH CARE IDENTITY AND MISSION


Responsiveness, Self-Effacement need coupled with self-effacement: human need?
Mt 20:29±34 Compassion b. Are we indifferent to our potential to affect
Mk 1:40 b. Cultivated responsiveness to human need the well-being of others by who we are (the
c. Therapeutic use of self: Our look, quality of our presence) as well as by what we
speech, and action can violate, negate, do?
or af®rm the other; Jesus chooses to c. Is self-effacement really something that we
heal by touch and word [and most expect of ourselves and other health care
probably, also by look] professionals?

Inclusive, Person-Centered Focus a. Consistent orientation to person rather a. What is our bottom line? How do we decide
Lk 13:10±17 than to things: People matter who gets care and how much care?
b. Inclusivity: All people matter b. What conscious or unconscious bias or
discrimination is affecting our ability to see
and respond to the needs of others?
c. What social or institutional variables are
affecting our ability to see and respond to
the needs of others?
d. Do we love others as we love ourselves? To
what extent are the needs of others motivat-
ing our action?
e. Is our love balanced? Are we balancing our
care obligations at home, work, socially, with
our obligations of self-care?

Caring is Holistic a. Responsiveness to the full range of a. Do the realities of the health care system
Mt 9:1±8 human needs: physical, psychosocial, make care of the whole person feasible?

35
and spiritual
Table 1. (continued).
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36
Hallmarks Characteristics Challenges

b. Human needs are individually b. How many health care professionals today
prioritized know patients well enough to address any-
thing more than physical needs?

Caring Relationships Are a. Both participants in the caring a. How many rote acts of caregiving are
Marked by Interpersonal Exchange relationship are enriched by their impoverished by the absence of interpersonal
Mk 5:21,24±34 making real for one another, God, exchange?
who is the author of all life and
love ± sacred moment / ``holy Ground''
b. Each act of caring is invested with

CAROL TAYLOR
something of the essence of the care-
giver ± and is intensely personal;
Caring works best when intentional:
I will something of myself to the
recipient of my care

Care is Not Judgmental a. Actions, not people, are judged; a. To what extent do morally indefensible
Jn 8:1±11 people are entrusted to God's mercy criteria factor in our decisions about who
and judgment gets [merits?] care?
b. Creative problem-solving minimizes b. To what extent do morally indefensible
con¯ict variables in¯uence my personal response to
those in need?
c. Do we minimize con¯ict by responding
creatively in situations where differences
tend to divide?

Care Speaks the Truth with a. Truth is spoken clearly ± even the a. Do we know enough about faith traditions to
Compassion ``hard sayings'' (Jn 6:60) ± but always help those seeking to make health care
Jn 4:7±26 with the intent of linking people with decisions consistent with their religious
God beliefs?
ROMAN CATHOLIC HEALTH CARE IDENTITY AND MISSION 37

 Our prophetic challenge is to relate the Gospel to today's culture, nurturing,


nourishing, and evoking a consciousness and perception which is an
alternative to the dominant culture around. This approach has a starting
point which transcends good people sitting together in a room trying to
decide how we ought to live, administer, practice. The starting point is the
life of Jesus as revealed in Scripture.
 The prophetic dimension expresses itself in wisdom, word, and witness.

C. Hallmarks of gospel care and compassion


So what wisdom for health care today is expressed in the word and witness of
Jesus re¯ected in the Gospel healing narratives? At the very least we can
trace six hallmarks of Gospel care and compassion with universal applic-
ability: ministry of presence, inclusive person-centered focus, holism, respect
for mutuality, nonjudgmental responsiveness, and ability to speak the truth
with compassion. While a case can be made for these being essential to Catholic
health care ministry, current conditions in health care, notably the increasing
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commercialization and commodi®cation of health care, place each in jeopardy.


These are described below and summarized in the accompanying table.

1. Ministry of presence: Attentiveness, responsiveness, self-effacement

As they left Jericho, a great crowd followed him. Two blind men were
sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was passing by, they
cried out, ``[Lord,] Son of David, have pity on us!'' The crowd warned them
to be silent, but they called out all the more, ``Lord, Son of David, have pity
on us!'' Jesus stopped and called to them and said, ``What do you want me
to do for you?'' They answered him, ``Lord, let our eyes be opened.''
Moved with pity, Jesus touched their eyes. Immediately they received their
sight, and followed him (Mt 20: 29±34).

A leper came to him [and kneeling down] begged him and said, ``If you
wish, you can make me clean.'' Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand,
touched him, and said to him, ``I will do it. Be made clean.'' The leprosy
left him immediately, and he was made clean (Mk 1: 40±42).

Gospel care and compassion might best be described as a ministry of


presence entailing attentiveness, responsiveness and self-effacement. What
each of the Gospel care narratives illustrates is Jesus' willingness to set aside
38 CAROL TAYLOR

whatever he was doing ± no small feat in today's world of ef®cient time


management ± to allow himself to attend to and to be moved by the plight of
another. Contrast this response to that of many caregivers today who report
consciously ``shutting down'' that part of themselves that used to be moved by
people in need because it is the only way they can preserve their peace of mind
and heart in the current culture of never having suf®cient time to tend to
anyone adequately. ``I've stopped caring about unmet needs. If I allowed
myself to care I'd drive myself crazy.'' With most institutional incentives
favoring ef®ciency over attentiveness, the witness of Jesus is a needed
corrective to anyone's comfortable acceptance of a culture that rewards
indifference.
When responding to others in need Jesus characteristically used word, look
and touch to heal, ministering on multiple levels to the human need he
perceived. Given his ability to cure by simply silently willing the cure, his
decision to touch and converse with the supplicant is signi®cant. Health
educators used to teach something called ``the therapeutic use of self.'' All too
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often today scant attention is paid to the power of touch, look and speech to
violate, negate or af®rm the human spirit.
Also noteworthy is the fact that Jesus never presumes that he has all the
answers or knows what is needed to make another whole. As we read in the
story of the two blind men, Jesus stopped and called to them and said, ``What
do you want me to do for you?'' It is the person, not only the medical plan, that
matters.
All of the Gospel healing narratives challenge today's caregivers to re¯ect
on ways they have become indifferent to human need. The challenge is to
develop sensitivity to the diverse experiences of human want and need and to
cultivate multiple means to meet these needs. Jesus's witness teaches that we
can effect the well-being of others as much, if not more, by who we are (the
quality of our presence) as well as by what we do.

2. Inclusive, person-centered focus

He was teaching in a synagogue on the sabbath. And a woman was there


who for eighteen years had been crippled by a spirit; she was bent over,
completely incapable of standing erect. When Jesus saw her, he called to
her and said, ``Woman, you are set free of your in®rmity.'' He laid his
hands on her, and she at once stood up straight and glori®ed God. But the
leader of the synagogue, indignant that Jesus had cured on the sabbath, said
ROMAN CATHOLIC HEALTH CARE IDENTITY AND MISSION 39

to the crowd in reply, ``There are six days when work should be done.
Come on those days to be cured, not on the sabbath day.'' The Lord said to
him in reply, ``Hypocrite! Does not each one of you on the sabbath untie his
ox or his ass from the manger and lead it out for watering? This daughter of
Abraham, whom Satan has bound for eighteen years now, ought she not to
have been set free on the sabbath day from this bondage?'' When he said
this, all his adversaries were humiliated; and the whole crowd rejoiced at all
the splendid deeds done by him (Lk 13: 10±17).

This story poignantly reveals two obvious characteristics of Gospel care ±


but characteristics which nonetheless beg to be noted. Gospel care is person-
oriented and it is inclusive. There was much on this Sabbath morning to
claim the attention of Jesus other than the human predicament of a woman
crippled for eighteen years. She makes no call to Jesus, but he, seeing her in
her bent condition, calls to her, lays his hands on her, and frees her of her
in®rmity. A sister in need was more important than the morning's teaching
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and rules governing human conduct on the Sabbath. That Jesus cured
``this daughter of Abraham'' also teaches an important lesson about Gospel
care's inclusiveness. The ministry of Jesus was not restricted to the healthy
or to males. All people mattered. The story of the Good Samaritan illus-
trates this same point. Here it is a priest and Levite who see the robber's
victim but for some reason fail to be moved by his need and fail to respond.
Something other than the victim mattered for the priest and Levite that
afternoon.
The more we ®x our eyes on Jesus in the Gospel care narratives, the more
challenged we become to question our individual and corporate ``bottom
line.'' How are we deciding who gets care and how much care they receive?
Should health care be rationed on the basis of merit or worth? What is it that
makes some more worthy than others to receive respectful, skilled care? The
current climate of health care reform gives this question a special urgency.
Reform is desperately needed. But at least at some planning tables too few
voices are championing the human costs of diverse proposals to reduce health
care costs and too few advocates for vulnerable populations are questioning
society's bias for the healthy, the strong and the powerful. This Jesus narrative
prompts us to discern what is preventing our recognition of and response to the
needs of others. The answer may entail our confronting conscious or
unconscious bias and discrimination. It may also require a new look at
previously unquestioned societal customs and practices such as the injunction
40 CAROL TAYLOR

in Jesus's day not to heal on the sabbath. Finally, we will need to honestly ask
ourselves, ``Do we truly love others as we love ourselves?'' If our action is
always motivated by our own need it may be time to examine our responsi-
bility to meet the needs of our sisters and brothers.

3. Caring is holistic

He entered a boat, made the crossing, and came into his own town. And
there people brought to him a paralytic lying on a stretcher. When Jesus
saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, ``Courage, child, your sins are
forgiven.'' At that, some of the scribes said to themselves, ``This man is
blaspheming.'' Jesus knew what they were thinking, and said, ``Why do
you harbor evil thoughts? Which is easier to say. `Your sins are forgiven,' or
to say, `Rise and walk'? But that you might know that the Son of Man has
authority on earth to forgive sins'' ± he then said to the paralytic, ``Rise,
pick up your stretcher, and go home.'' He rose and went home. When the
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crowds saw this they were struck with awe and glori®ed God who had given
such authority to human beings (Mt 9: 1±8).

Gospel care responds to the full range of human needs: physical, psychosocial,
and spiritual. If you ask most health care professionals to describe excellent
caring they will use the words holistic, individualized, prioritized, and
continuous. Sadly, while most caregivers are committed to realizing this
type of care, many have unre¯ectively accepted changes in the delivery
systems of care which make this type of caring virtually non-existent in some
practice settings. Even a cursory examination of patient treatment plans will
reveal the paucity of nonphysical goals and objectives. While psychosocial
and spiritual needs may be a patient's top priority concerns, caregivers are
increasingly ill-prepared to meet these needs and many today will claim that
there simply isn't time to do more than ``patch up the body.'' It is also true that
care is being structured so that few caregivers if any really get to know the
patient and his family and friends. While the objecti®cation of patients is a
perennial concern in health care, new cost-effective proposals for case
management have the potential to further reduce patients to objects which
will be forcibly moved through standardized treatment regimens. To the extent
that we take Jesus example seriously, we must ask ourselves if the realities of
the health care system in the United States today make care of the whole
person feasible ± and if they do not, what we plan to do about it. Individually
ROMAN CATHOLIC HEALTH CARE IDENTITY AND MISSION 41

we must discern if our practice is such that it enables us to know patients well
enough to address more than their physical needs.

4. Caring relationships are marked by interpersonal exchange

When Jesus had crossed again [in the boat] to the other side, . . . a large
crowd followed him and pressed upon him. There was a woman af¯icted
with hemorrhages for twelve years. She had suffered greatly at the hands of
many doctors and had spent all that she had. Yet she was not helped
but only grew worse. She had heard about Jesus and came up behind him
in the crowd and touched his cloak. She said, ``If I but touch his clothes, I
shall be cured.'' Immediately her ¯ow of blood dried up. She felt in her
body that she was healed of her af¯iction. Jesus, aware at once that power
had gone out from him, turned around in the crowd and asked, ``Who has
touched my clothes?'' But his disciples said to him, ``You see how the
crowd is pressing upon you, and yet you ask, `Who touched me?''' And he
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looked around to see who had done it. The woman, realizing what had
happened to her, approached in fear and trembling. She fell down
before Jesus and told him the whole truth. He said to her, ``Daughter,
your faith has saved you. Go in peace and be cured of your af¯iction''
(Mk 5: 21, 24±34).

Jesus did not allow this to be an anonymous act of healing. His recognition
that power had gone out from him illustrates the truth that each act of caring is
invested with something of the essence of the caregiver and is intensely
personal. Caring works best when intentional, when the caregiver wills
something of her or himself to the recipient. In the Gospel care narratives
both participants in the caring relationship are enriched by their making real
for one another God, who is the author of all life and love. Each such exchange
is a sacred moment happening on holy ground.
Caregivers do well to ponder how many rote acts of caregiving: food served,
bodies washed, medications and treatments administered, bodies studied and
repaired ± are impoverished by the absence of interpersonal exchange. Not
surprisingly, both parties lose when this exchange is absent. Impersonal giving
does deplete the giver who not surprisingly eventually ®nds her or himself
bankrupt with nothing more to offer and no human energy to continue.
Interpersonal exchange, on the other hand, enriches both participants who
mutually give and receive. The Christian health care professional recognizes
42 CAROL TAYLOR

that it is God who is present in each exchange, a God who rewards giving a
hundredfold.

5. Care is not judgmental

Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will
not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be
given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running
over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be
measured to you (Lk 6: 37±38).

But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. At dawn he appeared again in the
temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat
down to teach them. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought
in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and
said to Jesus, ``Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery.
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In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do


you say?'' They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis
for accusing him. But Jesus bent down and started to write on the
ground with his ®nger. When they kept on questioning him, he
straightened up and said to them, ``If any of you is without sin, let him
be the ®rst to throw a stone at her.'' Again he stooped down and wrote on
the ground. At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the
older ones ®rst, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing
there. Jesus straightened up and asked her, ``Woman, where are they?
Has no one condemned you?'' ``No one, sir,'' she said. ``Then neither do
I condemn you,'' Jesus declared. ``Go now and leave your life of sin'' (Jn
8: 1±11).

Jesus in the Gospel makes it very clear that judgment belongs to God, not to
humans. When judgments are needed it is actions that are judged, not people.
People are consistently entrusted to God's love, mercy and judgment. It is
dif®cult to think of anything that is more countercultural today. We seem to
relish ®nding excuses for our unwillingness to respond to others in need. Too
frequenetly the excuse is that we have no obligation to respond because the
individuals in question have forfeited their right to have their needs met. A
history of de®cient self-care behaviors or high risk activities or simply the
failure to somehow provide for themselves an adequate insurance policy
ROMAN CATHOLIC HEALTH CARE IDENTITY AND MISSION 43

``similar to what I have earned'' is suf®cient to ease my guilt about not


meeting their needs.
John's description of Jesus and the woman caught in adultery offers a
striking paradigm of nonjudgmental responsiveness. It also offers a beautiful
example of the creative use of problem-solving to minimize con¯ict. Chal-
lenges for us today include the following. To what extent do morally
indefensible criteria factor in our decisions about who gets care [merits?]
health care? To what extent do morally indefensible criteria in¯uence my
personal response to need? Do we minimize con¯ict by responding creatively
in situations where differences tend to divide?

6. Care speaks the truth with compassion

A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, ``Give me a


drink.'' His disciples had gone in to the town to buy food. The Samaritan
woman said to him, ``How can you, a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan woman,
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for a drink?'' (For Jews use nothing in common with Samaritans.)


Jesus answered and said to her, ``If you knew the gift of God and who is
saying to you, `Give me a drink,' you would have asked him and he
would have given you living water.'' [The woman] said to him, ``Sir, you
do not even have a bucket and the cistern is deep; where then can you get this
living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us this cistern
and drank from it himself with his children and his ¯ocks?'' Jesus answered
her and said to her, ``Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again; but
whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst; the water I shall give
will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.'' The woman
said to him, ``Sir, give me this water, so that I may not be thirsty or have to
keep coming here to draw water.''

Jesus said to her, ``Go call your husband and come back.'' The woman
answered and said to him, ``I do not have a husband.'' Jesus answered her,
``You are right in saying, `I do not have a husband.' For you have had ®ve
husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said
is true.'' The woman said to him, ``Sir, I can see that you are a prophet. Our
ancestors worshipped on this mountain; but you people say that the place to
worship is in Jerusalem.'' Jesus said to her, ``Believe me woman, the hour is
coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in
Jerusalem. You people worship what you do not understand; we worship what
44 CAROL TAYLOR

we understand, because salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming,
and is now here, when true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and
truth; and indeed the Father seeks such people to worship him. God is Spirit,
and those who worship him must worship in Spirit and truth.'' The woman
said to him, ``I know that the Messiah is coming, the one called the Anointed;
when he comes, he will tell us everything.'' Jesus said to her, ``I am He, the
one who is speaking with you'' (Jn 4: 7±26).

This long narrative illustrates Jesus' willingness to speak the truth clearly ±
but always compassionately with the intent of bringing people to the Father,
who seeks true worshippers, who worship in Spirit and truth. John Paul II in
Veritatis Splendor (1993) writes that the Church today best helps those
seeking to form a moral conscience which makes judgments and decisions
in accord with truth by pointing to Jesus:

This effort by the Church ®nds its support ± the secret of its educative
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power ± not so much in doctrinal statements and pastoral appoaches to


vigilance, as in constantly looking to the Lord Jesus. Each day the Church
looks to Christ with unfailing love, fully aware that the true and ®nal
answer to the problem of morality lies in him alone ( p. 130).

Those involved in Catholic health care ministry wrestle with increasingly


complex judgments prompted by advances in scienti®c knowledge and the
development of new technologies and procedures. The utilitarian imperative
to embrace whatever seemingly yields the best consequences for those making
the decision is deeply embedded in the American psyche. While ``constantly
looking to the Lord Jesus'' may not readily translate into answers about stem
cell research, human cloning, and genetic manipulation, it will add a new
dimension to our moral reasoning:

In a time of new medical discoveries rapid technological developments, and


social change, what is new can either be an opportunity for genuine advance
in human culture, or it can lead to policies and actions that are contrary to the
true dignity and vocation of the human person. . . . Created in God's image
and likeness, the human family shares in the dominion that Christ manifested
in his healing ministry. This sharing involves a stewardship over all material
creation (Gn 1: 26) that should neither abuse nor squander nature's resources.
Through science the human race comes to understand God's wonderful work;
ROMAN CATHOLIC HEALTH CARE IDENTITY AND MISSION 45

and through technology it must conserve, protect, and perfect nature, in


harmony with God's purposes. Health care professionals pursue a special
vocation to share in carrying forth God's life-giving and healing work
(National Conference of Catholic Bishops, 1995, p. 5).

In conclusion, I reiterate that the use of Jesus language and modeling does
matter. It matters because we are evolving a health care culture which is no
longer life-giving. And while the witness of Jesus in the Gospel healing
narratives is not the only corrective to current abuses in the health care
delivery system, it is foundational to the integrity of Roman Catholic health
care identity and mission. Those charged with responsibility for mission,
ethics, and institutional life are most likely to be successful in continuing
Jesus' healing ministry if they allow the witness of Jesus to exhort, de®ne and
bless the efforts of all who share in this ministry.
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DISPLAY BOX 1

Catholic Health Association's Shared Statement of Identity


for Catholic Health Care Ministry

CHA members and staff have been developing a concise statement of core
values and commitment for Catholic healthcare to ``help unify the mini-
stry, help us deal with current challenges, help us identify who we need to
be, and make the ministry come alive for those who serve in it,'' according
to Regina Clifton, CHA senior associate for mission integration.

In addition to strengthening the ministry internally, the statement will


also be useful externally in describing how we respond to community
needs in unique ways, in countering negative perceptions of Catholic
healthcare, and in ``telling our story,'' Clifton said.

The statement came out of 10 focus groups, held over the last two
months with more than 100 leaders from across the ministry, including
sponsors, system leaders, hospital and long-term care executives, mis-
sion leaders, system communicators, leaders from Catholic Charities,
and heads of state Catholic health associations. [Catholic Health World,
March 1, 2000, p. 3]
46 CAROL TAYLOR

Final Statement:
``We are the people of Catholic health care, a ministry of the church
continuing Jesus' mission of love and healing today. As provider,
employer, advocate, citizen-bringing together people of diverse faiths
and backgrounds-our ministry is an enduring sign of health care rooted
in our belief that every person is a treasure, every life a sacred gift, every
human being a unity of body, mind, and spirit.

We work to bring alive the Gospel vision of justice and peace. We


answer God's call to foster healing, act with compassion, and promote
wellness for all persons and communities, with special attention to our
neighbors who are poor, underserved, and most vulnerable. By our
service, we strive to transform hurt into hope.''
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REFERENCES

Catholic Health Association (2000). Shared statement of identity for Catholic health care
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Catholic Healthcare West, Mission Statement [On-line]. Available: http://www.chw.edu/
aboutchw/mission.htm
Holy Cross Health System, Mission Statement [On-line]. Available: http://www.hchs.org/
ms-cv.htm
Holy Family Hospital, Mission Statement [On-line]. Available: http://www.holy-family.org/
mission.html
Holy Name Hospital, Mission Statement [On-line]. Available: http://www.holyname.org/
brochure/mission.htm
John Paul II. (1993). Veritatis Splendor. Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana.
Laboure College Mission Statement, Mission Statement [On-line]. Available: http://www.
labourecollege.com / info/mission.html
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mercy-chicago.org / philo.cgi
Mercy Medical Center, Mission Statement [On-line]. Available: http://www.mdmercy.com/
missionandphilos.html
ROMAN CATHOLIC HEALTH CARE IDENTITY AND MISSION 47

Mercy Medical Center ± Catholic Health Initiatives, Mission Statement [On-line]. Available:
http://www.mercyrose.org/chi.html
National Conference of Catholic Bishops. (1995). Ethical and religious directives for Catholic
Health Care Services. Washington, DC: United States Catholic Conference.
Potter, R.L. (Summer 1996). From clinical ethics to organizational ethics: The second stage of
the evolution of bioethics. Bioethics Forum, 139±148.
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www.sfhosp.chime.org/about/mission.htm
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St. Francis Medical Center, Mission Statement [On-line]. Available: http://www.stfran.com/
aboutus.htm
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mission.html
Saint Mary's Hospital, Mission Statement [On-line]. Available: http://www.smhosp.chime.org/
about/message.html
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St. Mary's Medical Center, Mission Statement [On-line]. Available: http://www.saitnmarys-


saginaw.org/mission.html
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mission.html
Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, Mission Statement [On-line]. Available: http://www.wco.com/
whitesid/mission.html
Sisters Healthcare, Mission Statement [On-line]. Available: http://www.sisters-buffalo.org/
home/about/western®rst/mission/index.html
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rini.org/SFCH.htm
SLUCare, Mission Statement [On-line]. Available: http://www.slucare.edu/mission.shtml
UniMed Medical Center St. Joseph's Hospital, Mission Statement [On-line]. Available: http://
www.unimedmedical.com/general.htm

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