The Core Principles of the CHCLA
Evangelization
Evangelization is one of the core principles of the CHCLA. Today, Catholic health care professionals are called to participate in Christ’s healing mission and by doing so, evangelize their patients and peers. By treating patients with dignity and respect, both for the body and soul, health care professionals bear witness to the value and inviolable dignity of each person, who is created in God’s image and likeness. Hospitals are a unique mission field, and CHCLA will support the rights of health care professionals to work in such a way as to grow in Christian virtue and share their faith without fear.
CHCLA will promote endeavors to evangelize in all facets of health care, including administration, research, ethics, and policy. CHCLA understands that there are innumerable challenges in the world of health care including: threats to human dignity, suppressing freedom of conscience, rapid advances in biotechnologies, and relativistic medical ethics. Through collaborating with experts from various disciplines, CHCLA seeks to evangelize not only those involved in direct patient care, but all who are a part of the world of Catholic health care.
Education
Those involved in health care are often inundated by competing and conflicting voices of information. It is a part of the missions of CHCLA’s member organizations to educate those in the disciplines of medicine, ethics, and law on how the truths of the Gospel and Church teaching impact their professions. Through collaborative efforts, the CHCLA will draw on the different perspectives and knowledge of these organizations and others to create educational resources that will equip those who work in Catholic health care to become leaders in service of the Church.
Education
Those involved in health care are often inundated by competing and conflicting voices of information. It is a part of the missions of CHCLA’s member organizations to educate those in the disciplines of medicine, ethics, and law on how the truths of the Gospel and Church teaching impact their professions. Through collaborative efforts, the CHCLA will draw on the different perspectives and knowledge of these organizations and others to create educational resources that will equip those who work in Catholic health care to become leaders in service of the Church.
Advocacy
Lay Catholics are called to participate in the public square. As an organization focused on the formation of leaders in Catholic health care and the renewal of Catholic health care systems, the CHCLA will advocate for initiatives that promote the moral and social doctrines of the Church. These policies will be based on principles such as solidarity, subsidiarity, truth, freedom, and charity.
By advocating for and achieving reforms in health care, Catholic health care is poised to bring about a spiritual and cultural revolution. Historically, Catholic hospitals were imbued with a sense of reverence, not only for the Eucharistic Christ in their chapels but also for the patients entrusted to their care, especially for poor and vulnerable people. This set Catholic hospitals apart and provided for their success. A Catholic hospital was not a hub of technocratic bureaucracy but a place of healing for the whole person, body and soul.
CHCLA will advocate that Catholic hospitals once again become a shining witness to the Church’s healing mission.
Mutual Support
The CHCLA was established as a collaborative response of faithful Catholics to the political, regulatory, financial, and organizational pressures that cause confusion and threaten the practice of Catholic healthcare. The founding members are the Catholic Medical Association, the National Bioethics Center, the Catholic Benefits Association, the Christ Medicus Foundation, and the Catholic Bar Association. United in purpose, yet diverse in strength and expertise, the CHCLA relies on the mutual support of its members to provide much-needed integrity, unity, and leadership in the world of health care. The CHCLA will also be a center for patients and professionals to find the support they need to fully live out their Catholic identity.
The CHCLA will reform Catholic health care in obedience to the truths taught by the Magisterium. While certain practices need to be reformed and adapted, the foundational truths and traditions of the Catholic faith, which give Catholic health care its identity, can never change.
Mutual Support
The CHCLA was established as a collaborative response of faithful Catholics to the political, regulatory, financial, and organizational pressures that cause confusion and threaten the practice of Catholic healthcare. The founding members are the Catholic Medical Association, the National Bioethics Center, the Catholic Benefits Association, the Christ Medicus Foundation, and the Catholic Bar Association. United in purpose, yet diverse in strength and expertise, the CHCLA relies on the mutual support of its members to provide much-needed integrity, unity, and leadership in the world of health care. The CHCLA will also be a center for patients and professionals to find the support they need to fully live out their Catholic identity.
The CHCLA will reform Catholic health care in obedience to the truths taught by the Magisterium. While certain practices need to be reformed and adapted, the foundational truths and traditions of the Catholic faith, which give Catholic health care its identity, can never change.