An Exploratory Study on Mental Health, Social Problems and Spiritual Damage in Victims of Child Sexual Abuse by Catholic Clergy and Other Perpetrators.

The Catholic Church has faced a large number of complaints against its representatives for sexual crimes that involved children and adolescents as victims. The objective of this study was to characterize the dynamics of this type of event, its characteristics, and its effects in terms of mental health and social consequences, as well as the spiritual damage generated. The sample comprised 182 victims from Spain and Chile, divided into three mutually exclusive groups (n = 40 committed by a representative of the Catholic Church; n = 85 by a family member; n = 57 by a perpetrator outside the family and the Church). The results show that victims of child sexual abuse (CSA) by a representative of the Catholic Church and other perpetrators are similar in many respects (e.g., religiosity, characteristics of the abuse, and mental health and social problems), but that the effects on religiosity are more serious for victims of the clergy, affecting their belief in God. Finally, the extreme decline in belief in God, due to CSA, is an important predictor for most mental health and social problems. Our results show the need to include the Catholic identity, faith and spirituality in the therapeutic context.

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.

Considering the Fetus as Messenger.

The author characterizes the Pope's position on the sanctity of fetal life as less a moral proposition than an observation about the unborn child's function as an essential messenger, through the mother's pregnancy to the child's birth and to the child's role in defining the family. He considers the Pope's suggestion as a means of lowering the heat surrounding the abortion issue by distancing that dialogue from ingrained dogma. However, in proposing this point to a friend who is a firm pro-choice partisan, the author finds her skeptical of the Pope's frankness in thus framing the issue, and that she views the Pope's apparent concessions as merely tactical.

Yes to Life: An Opportunity for Partnership Between Medicine and Religion.

Pope Francis recently spoke about perinatal palliative care and the dilemmas that parents of critically ill babies encounter. In his speech, the Pope beautifully captured what many parents feel. They love their baby even if they know that the baby cannot survive. They need compassionate care of the sort that will allow them to express that love, even if it is only for minutes or hours, and even if the expression of love takes the form of comforting the dying baby rather than intervening medically or surgically to try to prolong life. "Many times," the Pope said, "Those few hours in which a mother can cradle her child in her arms leave an unforgettable trace in her heart." For those who work in perinatal palliative care, this affirmation and endorsement of their efforts by the Church is a welcome offer for an important collaboration. Medicine and religion can work hand in hand, here, to help parents and doctors who struggle to do the right thing when all the choices seem bad.

Pope Francis and Perinatal Palliative Care: Advancing the Culture of Mercy.

For the last 25 years, the Popes of the Roman Catholic Church have been vocal proponents of palliative care in an effort to promote human dignity, decrease human suffering, and discourage euthanasia and suicide. They have supported efforts to expand the scope and provision of palliative care. Recently, Pope Francis has focused on the need to provide perinatal palliative care. He has emphasized the need to do so as an act of mercy, love, and solidarity. His approach builds on the main pastoral theme of his Papacy, the mercy of God. This article outlines the thought of Pope Francis on the mercy of God and how he wishes to see this mercy motivate and invigorate not only the Church but all people. Perinatal palliative care becomes a further outgrowth of the love and mercy we show one another. It is a pastoral practice encouraged by the Church and consistent with Catholic doctrine and the mission of Catholic health-care facilities.

"Yes to Life" and the Expansion of Perinatal Hospice.

Since the model of perinatal hospice was first proposed more than two decades ago, its growth has been exponential. Perinatal hospice, now also called perinatal palliative care, is a practical and compassionate model of care for those continuing a pregnancy following a prenatal diagnosis indicating that their baby has a life-limiting condition and might die before or shortly after birth. Well over 300 international perinatal hospice and palliative care programs have been created; many articles have been published in major medical journals; several textbooks and guides have now been published; protocols and training have been developed; and growing numbers of parents are choosing to continue their pregnancies when perinatal hospice care is offered. And now the idea has even reached Pope Francis.

Pregnancy Accompanied by Palliative Care.

When prenatal screening reveals serious concerns for a baby, pediatric palliative care teams can help. Such teams meet with pregnant women and their families to build rapport, explain the medical concerns, delineate options, and outline anticipated outcomes. Throughout, palliative care teams strive for families to feel respected and supported in their grief.

Birth Narratives, Babies, and the Catholic Moral Imagination: Informing Influences on the Pope's Address.

This commentary considers two informing influences on Pope Francis's support of perinatal hospice care for families facing diagnoses of serious fetal anomalies. Reflecting on the morally formative scriptural narrative of Mary's pregnancy and Jesus's birth and drawing upon an often-repeated idea of Pope Francis's papacy that "time is greater than space," this commentary suggests that Francis's perspective is deeply shaped by an understanding of life as a gift given by God, destined to return to God, and shaped by the invitation to participate in the fullness of our nature through acts of loving accompaniment in the face of grave suffering and loss.

The Pope and the Possibilities of the Path Less Traveled.

Pope Francis's Address to the participants of the conference "Yes to Life! Taking Care of the Precious Gift of Life in Its Frailty" powerfully touches on multiple important aspects of the care of children experiencing "extreme frailty." It is a deeply moral account of the challenges that health-care providers, families, and patients confront in the technologically sophisticated and confusing world of modern medicine. This commentary draws upon a clinical case to contextualize the Pope's words in the hope of achieving a nuanced understanding of what pediatric palliative care offers to children experiencing extreme frailty. In his Address, the Pope asks health-care providers to consider an approach to frailty and suffering that allows for the opportunity to experience transcendent meaning and transpersonal value, and recognizes that it would be difficult to achieve these goals without the comprehensive and capable care offered by pediatric palliative care specialists.

The Natal Journey and Perinatal Palliative Care.

Doctors often focus on the science of medicine involved in matters of reproductive health and childbirth, at times to the exclusion of the psychosocial and spiritual dimensions of health. Pregnancy and childbirth are clothed in mystery when it comes to the question of why a pregnancy goes well or is fraught with complications. And while explanations may abound in this age of increasing genetic understanding, the meaning attached to these matters is beyond the scope of medicine alone-especially when the newborn's very survival is in question. Perinatal palliative care can bring solace to such troubling realities.

Inscriptions on roadside memorials in Poland.

This paper focuses exclusively on inscriptions on roadside memorials. We conducted a review of studies of roadside memorial inscriptions and a field study of 29 inscriptions found on 156 roadside memorials in Poland to understand the similarities and differences between these inscriptions and those in other countries. The uniqueness of Polish inscriptions is their religious meaning. They reflect the inscription authors' and/or the deceased's relationship with Catholicism. We proposed a typology of inscriptions (limited and developed) that may be useful in further comparative studies on roadside memorialization.

Religiosity among women undergoing pregnancy termination for medical reasons: the experiences and views of Polish women.

OBJECTIVES: The study aimed to determine the influence of religious and moral beliefs on contraceptive use, assisted reproduction and pregnancy termination in Polish women requesting a termination of pregnancy for medical reasons. METHODS: Between 1 June 2014 and 31 May 2016, women deemed eligible for a termination of pregnancy for medical reasons at a Polish tertiary care centre received an anonymous questionnaire comprising 65 items. A total of 150 completed questionnaires were collected. RESULTS: Of the respondents, 95% described themselves as Catholics, including 60% practising Catholics. The study revealed a discrepancy between respondents' beliefs and the teachings of the Catholic Church: an overwhelming majority of respondents used contraception, and 79% were in favour of in vitro fertilisation and believed the treatment should be refunded by the state. Interestingly, 66% of the respondents who attended confession did not perceive abortion as sinful. CONCLUSION: The study detected a considerable discrepancy between declared religiosity and individual interpretations of the commandments and teachings of the Catholic Church. Despite stating they were Catholics, most women did not perceive abortion as sinful and did not follow the teachings of the Catholic Church regarding the sacraments for deceased children.

You shall bury him: burial, suicide and the development of Catholic law and theology.

Whether physician-assisted dying should be legalised is a major debate in medical ethics and much has been written on it from both secular and religious perspectives. Less, however, has been written on one of the potential consequences of legalised physician-assisted death: whether those who undergo this procedure will be given funerals by religious groups who oppose the practice. This article investigates the Catholic Church's attitude to the burial of suicides, and how Catholic canon law has approached the question of ecclesiastic funerals for suicides throughout its history. From the sixth through the late 20th century, the Church technically did not bury anyone who willfully committed suicide. Broad shifts in the cultural attitude towards suicide, due in large part to new understandings of mental illness as disease, had a powerful effect on Catholic thought and practice in modernity, and the Church eventually dropped the ban on funerals for suicides from its law code altogether in the 1980s. The legalisation of physician-assisted death, however, raises again the possibility of a prohibition on funerals. The Church was able to drop its restrictions on funerals since suicide was seen as an act beyond the control of the deceased and thus worthy of mercy and compassion. In cases of physician-assisted dying, the patient must have consciously and willingly agreed to the procedure, undermining this understanding of suicide. The history of canon law on suicide funerals reveals the complexity of the Catholic attitude towards suicide and provides an important context to the current debate around physician-assisted death, and conflicts between medicine and religion more broadly.

Bishop Fulton J. Sheen: America's public critic of psychoanalysis, 1947-1957.

This paper examines the role of Bishop Fulton Sheen in the popularization of Freudian psychoanalysis in the United States during the 1940s and 50s. Social historians argue that Freudian ideas were pervasive in American culture during this period. While their claim speaks mainly to the impact of psychoanalysis on the cultural elite and college educated, they also suggest that Freudian ideas affected ordinary men and women. In the former case, the group impacted is small and not representative of the population as a whole; in the latter, the evidence is sparse and impressionistic. Neglected in their consideration is the influence of Fulton Sheen whose opinions on Freud reached an audience of 30,000,000 during the height of the popularity of his TV show, Life is Worth Living. Sheen's audience was more inclusive and representative of mainstream America. The negative and highly cautionary view of psychoanalysis he presented to many Americans was contrary to that which was promoted to and embraced by many of the college educated and likely shaped both their views of Freud and psychoanalytic therapy.

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.

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.

Federalism, two-level games and the politics of abortion rights implementation in subnational Argentina.

The implementation of the 2012 Argentinean Supreme Court landmark ruling, which declared abortion legal in all cases of rape and established standards of implementation of lawful abortions at all levels of government, shows an uneven pattern of compliance by subnational governments throughout the country. Based on a case-study of the implementation of the Court's decision in the province of Salta, this article advances an explanation of mechanisms that can affect the definition and enforcement of abortion rights at the local level, in a federation. Drawing on Putnam's concept of two-level games, it argues that, at critical junctures, local authorities and especially strong governors with presidential aspirations, may have electoral incentives at the national level to comply at least partially with national laws and judicial decisions which are contrary to their own ideological preferences and their local political allegiances. The study suggests that analyses of political opportunities for local reproductive rights activists in federal regimes should include the potential two-level games of local authorities, such as politicians with presidential aspirations, and judges who intend to pursue a career in national or international institutions. Through this analysis, the article intends to contribute to our understanding of the political determinants of subnational compliance with national abortion laws and court decisions in federal systems, and more generally, political factors and dynamics that shape inequities in the protection of women's rights under federalism.