Biomedical treatment and divine assistance: complementary reproductive itineraries among catholic women users of assisted reproduction technology in Argentina.

This paper explores how Catholic women in Argentina use assisted reproduction technologies (ARTs), and particularly the way in which they resort to biomedicine and religion as complementary sources of knowledge, support and assistance during reproductive treatments. It is concerned about the role of the Catholic religion in local reproductive itineraries, seeing that Catholicism has such significant social, political and cultural influence in the country. Drawing on a qualitative and ethnographic study of Catholic spaces of worship, a maternity hospital and in-depth interviews with former users from three metropolitan areas in Argentina, we examine how reproductive itineraries involve the users' agency in building health resources from religion, with reference to biomedicine. The data reveal that women address religion as an affective, social and therapeutic recourse intertwined with biomedical power. These findings highlight the multiple and complex forms reproduction acquires in specific social, cultural and normative contexts, and contribute to discussing the complementarity between religion and biomedicine in health experiences.

ChurchInAction: the role of religious interventions in times of COVID-19.

In a recently published letter to the editor of this journal, the authors have called for the need to establish psychological support structures that cater to people's mental health in this time of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. To be more holistic, we extend this call to include people's spiritual well-being as well. We highlight the initiatives of the Philippines' religious sector. In particular, we report some of the interventions made by the Roman Catholic Church that have led to the social media hashtag, #ChurchInAction. These religious and spiritual interventions showcase the efforts of the Philippine Church and play an important role in providing assistance in time of public health crisis.

A Phenomenological Study of the Lived Experience of Roman Catholic Sisters and Successful Aging.

Purpose: To gain an understanding of how religious and spiritual practices might enable Catholic Sisters to age successfully. Design: A purposive sample of 12 retired Roman Catholic Sisters aged 75 years and older from two convent settings were interviewed. Method: Using a semistructured recorded interview, the Roman Catholic Sisters shared their lived experiences of aging, and practices of religion, spirituality, and meditation. Data analysis utilized thematic analysis of the interview texts. Findings: Thematic analysis identified the following themes: daily engagement in religious and spiritual practice and meditation; self-contentment and positivity regarding the meaning of successful aging; life acceptance; sense of faith and positivity regarding the afterlife; and intersection of meditation, prayer, spirituality, and cognitive engagement. Conclusion: This research contributes to the body of aging research and presents successful aging as understood and more specifically as experientially influenced. The findings of the study provided insight regarding the meaning and experience of successful aging, and the role of everyday religious and spiritual practices in the lives of the Catholic Sisters which influenced their individual life experiences as they age.

Can Religious and Spiritual Struggle Enhance Well-Being? Exploring the Mediating Effects of Internal Dialogues.

Although a number of studies have demonstrated links between religious/spiritual struggle and well-being, only a few have examined what makes religious/spiritual struggle increase or decrease well-being. The present paper aims to examine different forms of internal dialogues (IDs) as potential mediators of the relationship between religious/spiritual struggle and well-being among Roman Catholics. There were 143 respondents (81 female) who participated in the study. We applied the Religious and Spiritual Struggle Scale, the Internal Dialogical Activity Scale, and the Psychological Well-Being Scale. The results showed that religious/spiritual struggle triggers IDs. Three types of IDs-ruminative, supportive, and social simulation dialogues-were mediators in the relationship between religious/spiritual struggle and well-being. Although religious/spiritual struggle decreased well-being through its effect on ruminative dialogues, it improved well-being through its effects on supportive and social simulation dialogues.

No Strings Attached: Faith Divested of Reciprocity.

A mature faith, as exemplified by David, confirmed by Jesus, and explained by Gerkin, is one that is not contingent on a preferred outcome: there is no positive or negative reciprocal altruism with God. God does not reward good behavior nor does God punish poor behavior. A mature faith is not one that expects the present to continue into the future, but one that trusts God's contingent providence in the future.

Potential conflicts in midwifery practice regarding conscientious objection to abortions in Scotland.

BACKGROUND:: This study was developed as a result of a court case involving conflicts between midwives' professional practice and their faith when caring for women undergoing abortions in Scotland. RESEARCH QUESTIONS:: What are practising Roman Catholics' perspectives of potential conflicts between midwives' professional practice in Scotland with regard to involvement in abortions and their faith? How relevant is the 'conscience clause' to midwifery practice today? and What are participants' understandings of Canon 1398 in relation to midwifery practice? RESEARCH DESIGN:: The theoretical underpinning of this study was Gadamer's hermeneutic out of which the method developed by Fleming et al. involving a five-stage approach was utilised. PARTICIPANTS AND RESEARCH CONTEXT:: The research was conducted in the south of Scotland. A purposive sampling method was used. Eight participants who were practising Roman Catholics familiar with the subject of conscientious objection who were either midwives, lawyers (civil, canon or both) or priests contributed. ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS:: The major ethical issues related to respect for autonomy, maintaining confidentiality and obtaining voluntary informed consent. Parish priests agreed to act as gatekeepers to prospective participants. All legal requirements were addressed regarding data collection and storage. Approval was given by the ethics committee of the university with which one of the researchers were associated. FINDINGS:: Three key themes provide an understanding of the situation in which midwives find themselves when considering the care for a woman admitted for an abortion: competing legal systems, competing views of conscience and limits of participation. CONCLUSION:: Clear guidelines for practice should be developed by a multi-professional and consumer group based on an update of the abortion law to reflect the change from a surgical to medical procedure. Clarification of Canon 1398 in relation to what is and is not participation in the procurement of abortion would be of benefit to midwives with a conscientious objection.

Religiosity, Marital Quality and Couple Generativity in Italian Couples Belonging to a Catholic Spiritual Association: A Quali-Quantitative Study.

The current studies aimed, firstly, at exploring the relationship between the level of religiosity and marital outcomes, in terms of relationship quality and couple generativity; secondly, at gaining insight into which strategies the couples use to ensure their marital quality/couple generativity, and understanding if religious practices have a positive influence on the development of such strategies. The studies focused on a specific aspect of religiosity, that is the active involvement in a Catholic association, and compared couples with a high level of religious involvement (HRI) belonging to a Catholic international association (New Families) and couples with a low level of religious involvement (LRI). Study 1 (N = 194) adopted a quantitative approach and analyzed data from questionnaires administered in two phases. Study 2 (N = 32) adopted a qualitative approach (grounded theory) and analyzed data from semi-structured interviews. Results of Study 1 showed that HRI men scored higher in relationship quality and couple generativity than LRI men, while HRI women scored higher in couple generativity than LRI women. In Study 2, no differences were found between HRI and LRI couples with respect to the factors that ensure marital quality and generativity (care of the relationship, dialogue, sharing, maintenance of the centrality of the relationship), but HRI and LRI couples used different strategies to achieve these goals.

Advance Care Planning.

There has been a growing trend in addressing spiritual needs in caring for the person, especially nearing the end of one's life. Advance care planning (ACP) facilitates understanding of preferences and explores the spiritual and existential aspects of care. This study explores the views and preferences of a group of Catholic nuns in Singapore, specifically looking at what was meaningful and valuable to them when determining treatment options at the end of life. Twenty-three nuns were purposively recruited in July 2012. A focus group discussion was conducted after administration of a questionnaire and attendance at a 1-hour talk on ACP. Slightly more than half had heard of ACP prior to the talk. The majority agreed that ACP was not against their religious beliefs" and that quality of life was important to them. The themes that emerged from this study were autonomy and freedom, spirituality and quality of life, and the meaning of ACP. The findings of this study suggested that spirituality and faith define the way the participants lived their lives, including their views and preferences on end-of-life care. Integrating spirituality into an essential domain of care will help the spiritual community honor a crucial part of end-of-life discussions and afford a greater discernment of the deep meaning that ACP holds.

A Longitudinal Case Study: The Development of Exceptional Human Experiences of Senior Ecclesiastical Professionals in the Catholic Church.

Exceptional human experiences (EHEs) impact on health and well-being and can contribute to enhanced intercultural and interreligious awareness and understanding. The aim of this longitudinal study was to explore the development of EHEs in a group of senior professionals in the German Catholic Church. Exceptional human experiences were measured through the EEQ in pre- and post-test questionnaires which were qualitatively analysed. The results of this study reflect an increase in the frequency of positive spiritual experiences and visionary dream encounters, as well as a more positive evaluation of these spiritual phenomena. The findings seem to suggest that it is possible to raise people's awareness of spiritual practices and to enhance intercultural and interreligious competence through training interventions.

The Use of Intercessory Prayer to Reduce Disruptive Behaviors of Patients With Dementia: A Pilot Feasibility Study.

A prospective longitudinal design was used to identify the feasibility, and preliminary efficacy of 12 weeks of intercessory prayer to reduce the disruptive behaviors of six late-stage dementia patients. One group of Catholic nuns offered the Lord's Prayer for assigned patients twice a day. Intercessory prayer for the entire subject group was also offered, by a second group of nuns, via a Latria (modality) called "Perpetual Adoration." Disruptions were documented from 3 weeks preintervention to 3 weeks postintervention. Consents were received for two thirds of invited patients. Retention was reduced by the death of two patients. Fidelity, assessed by retrospective report, was maintained throughout the study. Use of off-label antipsychotic medications was reduced or discontinued in four patients during the trial. The repeated measures analysis of variance, while indicative of a trend, did not reach a level of significance, likely due to small sample size. However, the average effect on behavior resulted in a reduction of disruptive incidents, for the group, in approximately 27 behavior categories/week. This study suggests that it is feasible to improve the life quality of patients in the terminal phase of their illness through prayer reducing their need to respond to life in a disturbed manner.

How Religious Beliefs and Practices Influence the Psychological Health of Catholic Priests.

Roman Catholic diocesan priests are a subgroup of men with unique religious and spiritual roles, beliefs, and practices. This qualitative study of 15 priests from the mid-Atlantic area of the United States focused on how priests' relationship with God and promises of celibacy and obedience influenced their psychological health. Using a consensual qualitative research (CQR) design, the analysis revealed that participants described their relationship with God as central to their health and contributing to positive outcomes (e.g., sense of connection and support). The influence of their promises of celibacy and obedience were linked to both positive outcomes (e.g., decreased stress, improved relationships) and negative outcomes (e.g., internal conflict, depression/loneliness). This study highlighted the central role that priests' relationship with God has on positive psychological health. Future research is necessary to understand how to maximize the positive effects and minimize the negative effects of priests' promises of celibacy and obedience, which would benefit programs aimed at supporting priests' psychological health.

The pain of existing and religion from the perspective of Catholics.

OBJECTIVE: to characterize the understanding of leaders and members of the Catholic religion on pain of existing. METHOD: 80 Catholics participated in the study. Data collection was carried out using the Religious Content Assessment Tool. The content analysis was carried out and arithmetic mean and standard deviation were calculated. RESULTS: the following categories emerged: length of affiliation, beginning of the religious practice and affiliation changes, responsibility for the actions and relationship with death, description of God, awareness of the existence of profound experiences, possibility of reward, increased faith in proximity to death, religion as an attempt to explain human limitations, relationship between religion and science and religion of the past and present in relation to science. On the instrument, the highest assigning items were: I believe that nature should be respected (9.96±0.19); I believe that all living beings deserve respect (9.70±0.67); make life worth living (9.70±0.78); my life is a transformation process (9.63±1.04) and I respect the diversity of people (9.56±0.91). CONCLUSION: it was observed associations between the participants' perceptions and religious constructs, highlighting the need to approach the religious phenomenon as part of the human being and potential resource for management and modulation of the pain of existing.

The pain of existing and religion from the perspective of Catholics / A dor do existir e a religião na perspectiva dos católicos / El dolor de existir y la religión desde la perspectiva de los católicos

AbstractObjective: to characterize the understanding of leaders and members of the Catholic religion on pain of existing.Method: 80 Catholics participated in the study. Data collection was carried out using the Religious Content Assessment Tool. The content analysis was carried out and arithmetic mean and standard deviation were calculated.Results: the following categories emerged: length of affiliation, beginning of the religious practice and affiliation changes, responsibility for the actions and relationship with death, description of God, awareness of the existence of profound experiences, possibility of reward, increased faith in proximity to death, religion as an attempt to explain human limitations, relationship between religion and science and religion of the past and present in relation to science. On the instrument, the highest assigning items were: I believe that nature should be respected (9.96±0.19); I believe that all living beings deserve respect (9.70±0.67); make life worth living (9.70±0.78); my life is a transformation process (9.63±1.04) and I respect the diversity of people (9.56±0.91).Conclusion: it was observed associations between the participants' perceptions and religious constructs, highlighting the need to approach the religious phenomenon as part of the human being and potential resource for management and modulation of the pain of existing.

ResumoObjetivo:caracterizar a compreensão de líderes e afiliados da religião católica acerca da dor do existir.Método:participaram 80 católicos. A coleta de dados foi realizada pelo Instrumento de Avaliação de Conteúdos Religiosos. Foi feita análise de conteúdo e calculou-se a média aritmética e desvio-padrão.Resultados:emergiram as categorias: tempo de afiliação, início da prática religiosa e mudanças de afiliação, responsabilidade pelos atos e relação com a morte, descrição de Deus, consciência da existência de experiências profundas, possibilidade de recompensa, aumento da fé na proximidade com a morte, religião como tentativa de explicar as limitações humanas, relação entre religião e ciência e a religião do passado e do presente em relação à ciência. No instrumento, os itens de maior atribuição foram: eu acredito que a natureza deveria ser respeitada (9,96±0,19); eu acredito que todos os seres vivos merecem respeito (9,70±0,67); fazer a vida valer a pena (9,70±0,78); minha vida é um processo de transformação (9,63±1,04) e eu respeito a diversidade de pessoas (9,56±0,91).Conclusão:perceberam-se associações existentes entre a opinião dos participantes e os constructos religiosos, evidenciando a necessidade de abordagem do fenômeno religioso como parte do ser humano e potencial recurso para manejo e modulação da dor do existir.

ResumenObjetivo:caracterizar la comprensión de los líderes y miembros de la religión católica sobre el dolor de existir.Método:80 católicos participaron en el estudio. La recogida de datos se realizó a través del Instrumento de Evaluación de Contenidos Religiosos. Se ha realizado el análisis de contenido y se calculó la media aritmética y la desviación estándar.Resultados:las siguientes categorías emergieron: tiempo de afiliación, inicio de la práctica religiosa y cambios de afiliación religiosa, responsabilidad de los actos y relación con la muerte, descripción de Dios, conciencia de la existencia de experiencias profundas, posibilidad de recompensa, aumento de la fe en la proximidad con la muerte, religión como un intento de explicar las limitaciones humanas, relación entre religión y ciencia y religión del pasado y del presente en relación a la ciencia. En el instrumento, los ítems con las asignaciones más altas fueron: creo que la naturaleza debe ser respetada (9,96±0,19); creo que todos los seres vivos merecen respeto (9,70±0,67); hacer que la vida vale la pena vivir (9,70±0,78); mi vida es un proceso de transformación (9,63±1,04) y respeto de la diversidad de las personas (9,56±0,91).Conclusión:se han notado asociaciones existentes entre las percepciones de los participantes y las construcciones religiosas, destacando la necesidad de abordar el fenómeno religioso como parte del ser humano y recurso potencial para la gestión y la modulación del dolor de existir.

Investigating children's spiritual experiences through the Health and Physical Education (HPE) learning area in Australian schools.

The purpose of this study is to explore spirituality within the Health and Physical Education (HPE) learning area, through investigating children's experiences within three Brisbane Catholic Education primary schools (Queensland, Australia). There are seven dimensions of wellness: physical, intellectual, emotional, social, spiritual, environmental, and occupational, which are all strongly connected (Robbins et al. in A wellness way of life, 9th edition, McGraw Hill, USA, 2011). It is logical that HPE, which promotes students to adopt lifelong health and well-being, offers opportunities for spirituality to be experienced and warrants investigation. Data gathered in this qualitative research suggest that regular quality inclusive HPE lessons increased students' potential for spiritual experiences.

Spiritual Needs of Polish Patients with Chronic Diseases.

In a cross-sectional survey using standardized questionnaires such as the Spiritual Needs Questionnaire (SpNQ), we analyze unmet spiritual needs of 275 patients with chronic diseases from Catholic Poland. The factorial structure of SpNQ's Polish version is similar to the primary version and has good internal consistency (Cronbach's α = 0.89). Here, not only Inner Peace needs and Giving/Generativity needs were of relevance, but also Religious Needs and Existential Needs. These needs were not significantly associated with life satisfaction, but with interpretations of illness. To address such unmet needs, multi-professional teams should care for patients' multifaceted needs.

Religious beliefs and cancer screening behaviors among Catholic Latinos: implications for faith-based interventions.

Although most U.S. Latinos identify as Catholic, few studies have focused on the influence of this religious tradition on health beliefs among this population. This study explores the role of Catholic religious teachings, practices, and ministry on cancer screening knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors among Latinos. Eight focus groups were conducted with 67 Catholic Latino parishioners in Massachusetts. Qualitative analysis provided evidence of strong reliance on faith, God, and parish leaders for health concerns. Parishes were described as vital sources of health and social support, playing a central role in the community's health. Participants emphasized that their religious beliefs promote positive health behaviors and health care utilization, including the use of cancer screening services. In addition, they expressed willingness to participate in cancer education programs located at their parishes and provided practical recommendations for implementing health programs in parishes. Implications for culturally appropriate health communication and faith-based interventions are discussed.

"Leaving it to God" religion and spirituality among Filipina immigrant breast cancer survivors.

Many Filipinos have a powerful adherence to Catholicism. However, little is known about spirituality and religious involvement of Filipina Americans who have been diagnosed with breast cancer. Ten (n = 10) in-depth qualitative interviews with Filipina immigrant breast cancer survivors identified prayer to be the most common religious practice, followed by prayers by others and spiritual support from the Catholic Church. These findings can help clinicians and researchers understand the role of spirituality and religion in providing comfort and support for Filipina immigrant breast cancer patient as they face the stress of diagnosis and treatment.

[Between faith and delusion]. / Zwischen Glauben und Wahn.

Religious beliefs can lead to difficulties in psychiatric diagnosis, when it comes to distinguishing between faith and delusion. Delusion is defined as a false assessment of reality combined with subjective certainty, which is in contrast with the reality of the social environment. The problem with this definition is that reality cannot be examined with scientific methods/criteria and that the assessment of reality itself underlies historical and cultural fluctuations. The current diagnostic manuals for psychiatric disorders DSM 5 and ICD-10 require, that the content of the belief has to be inadequate even in the subculture of the patient (ICD-10) and that the cultural and socioeconomic background of the patient has to be taken into account (DSM 5). On the basis of this case-report and of selected publications on this topic we want to discuss this diagnostic problem. After that we present a diagnostic model for delusion, which is easy to handle in the daily routine of psychiatrists.

A thematic analysis of delusion with religious contents in schizophrenia: open, closed, and mixed dynamics.

The aim of the present study was to elicit how patients with delusions with religious contents conceptualized or experienced their spirituality and religiousness. Sixty-two patients with present or past religious delusions went through semistructured interviews, which were analyzed using the three coding steps described in the grounded theory. Three major themes were found in religious delusions: "spiritual identity," "meaning of illness," and "spiritual figures." One higher-order concept was found: "structure of beliefs." We identified dynamics that put these personal beliefs into a constant reconstruction through interaction with the world and others (i.e., open dynamics) and conversely structural dynamics that created a complete rupture with the surrounding world and others (i.e., closed structural dynamics); those dynamics may coexist. These analyses may help to identify psychological functions of delusions with religious content and, therefore, to better conceptualize interventions when dealing with it in psychotherapy.