Timestamps:

Part 1: Ellen Roderick
00:00 Introductions
04:00 What does it mean to care?
08:15 The foundational unity of society & caregiving – the Family
11:30 The Qualitative dimensions of Care 
14:05 The connection between Giving care and Happiness
17:00 Sympathy, Empathy and Compassion
19:15 The role of Social institutions in Caregiving

Part 3: Panel Discussion
45:40 The role of the individual in caregiving
48:00 The role of the Church in caregiving 
53:15 The role of Government in caregiving
58:45 The role of Community & Civil society in caregiving
1:05:20 Change in lifestyle to make more room for care
1:08:05 Catholic v Secular Healthcare institutional differences in the US
1:11:00 Closing Reflections & Prayer

CARE-GIVING IN CATHOLIC SOCIAL TEACHING IN AN AGE OF ISOLATION: To some, it would appear that our contemporary culture is marked by a paradox – we have more technological capacity, options to deliver care through varied professional support systems (long-term care, nursing, specialist physicians and psychologists), wealth, and a potential to devote ourselves to the care for others given that many of our basic needs are met. Yet we are more isolated than ever, many people feel uncared for, or disposable—and indeed, too often the culture treats them as disposable, intentionally or not. Pope Francis has spoken of this as a “throwaway culture” that affects both humans and creation itself. How can this be? Human dignity has nothing to do with the economic productivity of any individual, and yet those who most need our help are often left in poverty on one extreme, or the option of euthanasia on the other. How can a Catholic vision of care-giving and human dignity heal this wound in our culture? How can we present it in all its goodness, truth and beauty to the world around us at this crucial moment for the future of dignified aging, amid strained healthcare systems, an aging demographic, and legalized euthanasia?

Dr CHARLES CAMOSY

Charles C. Camosy Dr. Camosy is a Professor of Medical Humanities at the Creighton University School of Medicine and joined the Saint Joseph’s seminary (NY) as a Distinguished Visiting Scholar through the fall 2021 semester.  Dr. Camosy’s published articles have appeared in the American Journal of Bioethics, the Journal of Medicine and Philosophy, the Journal of the Catholic Health Association, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, the New York Daily News and America magazine. He is the author of four books. Too Expensive to Treat? (Eerdmans) was a 2011 award-winner with the Catholic Media Association, Peter Singer and Christian Ethics (Cambridge) was named a 2012 “best book” with ABC Religion and Ethics, and For Love of Animals (Franciscan) was featured in the “Beliefs” section of the New York Times. He is author most recently of Losing Our Dignity: How Secularized Medicine is Undermining Fundamental Human Equality (New City Press, 2021).

His work on ethics and policy moves beyond stale and lazy arguments which artificially pit liberals and conservatives against each other. Instead, Camosy finds common ground by unpacking the real complexities of some of today’s most passionately debated issues.

Dr ELLEN RODERICK

Dr. Ellen Roderick is Co-Director of the Diocesan Centre for Marriage, Life and Family at the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Montreal. She completed her PhD in theology at the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and the Family at the Catholic University of America with a dissertation on the theological and philosophical meaning of childhood in the thought of Hans Urs von Balthasar.  As an associate professor of theology at the Grand séminaire de Montréal (Université Laval) and at the Institut de formation théologique de Montréal, Ellen enjoys engaging with students on the themes of marriage, family, bioethics and contemporary understandings of the body.