Following recent controversies involving healthcare and religion, Vatican officials have announced a new set of biomedical guidelines will be published later this year, according to a USA Today report.
The announcement follows recent disputes over the Catholic status of St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix. In Dec. 2010, Bishop Thomas Olmsted revoked the hospital's affiliations with the Church after medical staff terminated an 11-week pregnancy in 2009. Physicians had determined the patient would have died without the procedure.
Now Vatican officials are trying to clarify the language of the biomedical guidelines and boost education for healthcare workers. A Vatican official said recent controversy shows the need to translate Catholic teaching into the terms of modern society, according to the report.
Read the USA Today report on Catholic hospitals and biomedical guidelines.
Read more about Catholic hospitals:
- Consolidations Spur Conflict Between Hospitals and Church
- Rift Growing Between Catholic Church, Some Catholic Hospitals
- Abortion Showdown Again Puts Catholic Hospitals at Odds With Church; More Catholic Healthcare West Hospitals May be Targeted
The announcement follows recent disputes over the Catholic status of St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix. In Dec. 2010, Bishop Thomas Olmsted revoked the hospital's affiliations with the Church after medical staff terminated an 11-week pregnancy in 2009. Physicians had determined the patient would have died without the procedure.
Now Vatican officials are trying to clarify the language of the biomedical guidelines and boost education for healthcare workers. A Vatican official said recent controversy shows the need to translate Catholic teaching into the terms of modern society, according to the report.
Read the USA Today report on Catholic hospitals and biomedical guidelines.
Read more about Catholic hospitals:
- Consolidations Spur Conflict Between Hospitals and Church
- Rift Growing Between Catholic Church, Some Catholic Hospitals
- Abortion Showdown Again Puts Catholic Hospitals at Odds With Church; More Catholic Healthcare West Hospitals May be Targeted