August 11, 2025

“…[Y]ou will know the truth, and the truth will set you free”[1]

In a discourse with Jews who believed in him, Jesus asserted that those who live according to his teaching are truly his disciples. How does this apply to Catholic physicians and healthcare professionals today? In our modern healthcare system, how can Catholic physicians and healthcare professionals demonstrate that they are disciples of Jesus Christ?

Most are already familiar with the “Ethical and Religious Directives for Health Care Services” (ERD) developed and approved by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops to support how “the moral teachings we profess as Catholics flow principally from the natural law.”[2] While the ERD’s are concerned primarily with institutionally based Catholic healthcare services, they are helpful to those of us in other healthcare settings such as private and/or group practices. 

Catholic social teaching on healthcare, which is based on the commitment to promote and defend human dignity, also serves as a guide in the delivery of medical services. Of the seven teachings of Catholic Social teaching, the focus on the life and dignity of the human person applies.

For years now, with the advancement in the understanding of the human body, human life has been under direct attack in many ways from abortion to euthanasia. Practices such as embryonic stem cell research, reproductive technologies (i.e. homologous and heterologous In Vitro Fertilization), use of oral contraceptives, and direct sterilization are some examples of direct assaults on human dignity in the healthcare setting.

Our dignity is based simply on the fact that we are created in the image and likeness of God.[3] “The Dignity of a person must be recognized in every human being from conception to natural death.” [4] We have opportunities daily to help remind our patients that their dignity is based solely on this assertion and not what they contribute to society.

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