O\u27Donaghue, Robert F.

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The Linacre QuarterlyVolume 40 | Number 3 Article 13August 1973Letter from Ireland, 1973Robert F. O'DonaghueFollow this and additional works at: http://epublications.marquette.edu/lnqRecommended CitationO'Donaghue, Robert F. (1973) "Letter from Ireland, 1973," The Linacre Quarterly: Vol. 40 : No. 3 , Article 13.Available at: http://epublications.marquette.edu/lnq/vol40/iss3/13,. I l . ~I LETTER FROM IRELAND, 1973 It is sad to relate that since my last letter the political situation in Northern Ir· nd is unchanged, if not worsened, as attitudes harden all the time. The socio-economic ots of these troubles were planted 300 years ·ago and can hardly be healed in a short ne. However, this year Great Britain and the Irish Republic have joined the European co-nomic Community, making us partners in one field at least. In the same vein we we had a change of government after 14 years to a coalition dedicated to bringing our ; ial services up to the standards set by the British National Health Service. This cot be seen helping in some way towards a future United Ireland, but as I write virtual the entire population has been declared eligible for free hospital services, even thou! the accommodations may not be yet available. This could go hard for specialists in a xed private and state practice since most of their income comes from the former class 1ich is now declared eligible for free service. However, most of these people ha~ r vate health insurance and will no doubt continue to opt for what it offers; but we do ~gin to simulate the British National Health Service, and this includes the north of I• and. One might exclude provision of free contraceptive advice and abortion virtually de-mand. But it is as well to appreciate that the Northern Protestants see the United • land as a Catholic camp where they would be snowed under, having neither politi( nor religious freedom. Thus one can visualize the dismay with which Northerner view Southern television when members of religious orders (priests and nuns) are oft< seen taking part in the various socially oriented and religious programs. Sad to rela they do not have a very high rating- the young particularly switching off this remi er of their schooldays and showing their independence from formal r~Hgion. Since o new government is planning a greater exchange of programs and views in televisi 1 and radio with the United Kingdom, they will naturally have to take this into accl 11, as also will the hierarchy who realize the value of this form of communication a how important it is to use it to counteract the many false ideas based on humanism an< .own· right paganism which are prevalent. Even the Guild of Ss. Luke, Cosmas & ! .mion (Guild of Catholic Doctors) is known to have the authority of the hierarchy bt ind it and is hardly noticed. Thus, we need an educated lay people, especially doctc who are prepared to defend the moral law in public, who will keep the media info .ed of medical progress and who will warn the people when dangerous situations c• 1d de· velop, e.g., unsuitable legislation. A recent lecture in Dublin by Professor Ian Donald, world-renowned Obst rician· Gynecologist from Glasgow, listed a dozen situations where the moral law as un. rstood by Christians is being challenged.· Abortion, contraception, sterilization, eu anasia seem well understood. The consideration of measures for population control, ~ <>blems associated with genetic counselling, eugenic selective reproduction, diagnosh of sex· linked abnormality perhaps antenatally, non-resuscitation of severely handica ped, in vitro human fertilization, human embryonic life in vitro and growth of fetal t sue for transplanting, gives evidence that a great gap exists between those who believe •hat the Christian churches teach and all others. This only emphasizes the need for planned counterattacks to many emotionally charged and inaccurate articles and featur s of the communication media. Thus, while the most obvious result of the entry of Ireland into the Europ< an Eco-nomic Community is rising prices and progress towards standardization of med1.:al qual· ifications, we must face a situation where our insularity is lost and our age-old ~~andards are challenged. This must be even more complex as we try to come more into .ine witb the life style of our neighbouring countries, with a view to that integration which in the long run seems inevitable. 154 Robert F. O'Donaghue, M.D. 23 St. Patrick's Hill Cork Linacre Quarterly The Directives: The Report-Revisited Vitale Paganelli, M.D. A recent contribution to the con-tinuing debate over the revised Hospital Directives is reviewed here by Dr. Paganelli. The review-er practices medicine in Glens Falls, New York, and earned the 1971 Linacre Award for an earli-er article in this journal. To bring the casual or occasion-al reader of The Linacre Quarterly up to date on the significant and ~ita~!Y import.ant discussion regard-mg .. The Eth1cal and Religious Di-rectives for Catholic Hospitals (the Directives)," a brief history follows. recommended by the full commit-tee, rather than that separately rec-ommended by the theologians were ~ltimately accepted by the Bishops m November, 1971 . The Linacre Quarterly of No-vember, 1972, published the results of a special study commission estab-lish~d by the Catholic Theological Soc1ety of America (CTSA). This study is referred to simply as the " Report." In November, 1971 , the United St_ates Catholic Conference of ~~~hops formally approved a re-VISion of the Directives which had Stood unchanged since 1955. This approved revision was the work of a committee which included members of the Catholic Hospital Association (CHA), the National ~~eration of Catholic Physicians' udds (NFCPG), theologians and ~vera! other interested parties. The heologians on that committee _ even at the time of its final rec-om_mendation to the usee - took ser•ous exception to the revision recommended by the full commit-tee and, as I understand it, subse-qu~nt.ly filed a separate recommen-dation. However, the Directives The Report was in response to the formal approval by the Bish-ops of the revised Directives and raised . q~estions both regarding t~e ~nnc1ples and their applica-tiOn m the revised document. This Report invited and encouraged fur-ther discussion of the issues raised. . Finally, in the February, 1973, Issue of Hospital Progress, the of-ficial journal of the CHA, Donald Keefe, S.J., (J.D., S.T.D.) undertook an ex_tensive critique of the Report su_bmJtted by the special study com-mittee of the CTSA. August, 1973 The purpose of this article is to analyze and comment on Father K~efe's critique of the Report. It should be noted that Father Keefe is as critical of the position taken by the theologians and others who formed the CTSA committee as they are of the revision of the Di-rectives officially promulgated by 155 

Letter from Ireland, 1973

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Letter from Ireland, 1973

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