Catholic Charities & Catholic Practice: too much to ask?
By now you may have heard about the horrible incident in which members of the Catholic Charities office in Richmond, VA, aided in procuring contraception and then (after the contraceptive "failed") an abortion for a Guatamalen teenager. It got the attention of the news not necessarily because social workers' actions were immoral, but because they were illegal in the state of VA (violation of the parental consent laws, I think). The story depicts the USCCB kind of scratching its head, wondering how such a horrible thing could happen. The story has incited many comments in the Catholic blogospehre about the lack of Catholic identity.
The main line of defense put forth by the Catholic Charities office is that the social workers were not all Catholic, and they didn't know that what they were doing was against Catholic teaching. First of all, what they were doing was not just against Catholic teaching, as if abortion is wrong only for Catholics. What they did was immoral. Secondly, as many other writers have already pointed out, you could ask a Muslim in the middle of Turkey what the Catholic Church's stance is on abortion and he would be able to tell you. You'd have to be pretty isolated not to know that the Catholic Church has always taught that abortion is inherently evil.
Yes, the ignorance plea is implausible and tired. Even given the acceptable practice of hiring non-Catholics to positions within Catholic agencies, it is the responsibility of the Catholic institution to make sure Catholic teachings are known and followed. The Catholic school in which I worked for ten years included a clause in our contract that "required" us to live according to the moral teachings of the Catholic Church, even if we were not Catholic.
However, I wonder if organizations like Catholic Charities suffer from the same problem as our Catholic schools and hospitals. From what training ground do Catholic schools get their teachers? They get their teachers from the same pool as public schools. Catholic school teachers are taught the same educational philosophies, the same attitudes, and many times the same morality as state school teachers. Then, just because they’re hired by a Catholic school, we suddenly expect them to be able to bring the Catholic faith to our children.
The same goes for Catholic hospitals. In our area the hospital doesn’t even hire its own doctors. It contracts with the local clinic. Then we’re shocked to find out that our Catholic hospitals are performing tubal ligations. Did we think the doctors would suddenly come to realize the truth about human sexuality after being inundated with the modern medical claptrap - just because they work in a Catholic hospital?
The solution (IMHO) would be to institute solidly Catholic training programs within our Catholic colleges and universities, and then for our Catholic institutions to hire from that pool. Of course, that would require the conversion of our Catholic colleges and universities . . .
It is precisely the lack of movement in the area of training that makes me question our commitment to Catholic identity. I do not just blame the bishops, but you would think there would be a larger pull from our shepherds in this regard. Until Catholic teachers, medical professionals and social worders are trained to be Catholic in their positions, why should we even pretend to be surprised when they get away with murder?
The main line of defense put forth by the Catholic Charities office is that the social workers were not all Catholic, and they didn't know that what they were doing was against Catholic teaching. First of all, what they were doing was not just against Catholic teaching, as if abortion is wrong only for Catholics. What they did was immoral. Secondly, as many other writers have already pointed out, you could ask a Muslim in the middle of Turkey what the Catholic Church's stance is on abortion and he would be able to tell you. You'd have to be pretty isolated not to know that the Catholic Church has always taught that abortion is inherently evil.
Yes, the ignorance plea is implausible and tired. Even given the acceptable practice of hiring non-Catholics to positions within Catholic agencies, it is the responsibility of the Catholic institution to make sure Catholic teachings are known and followed. The Catholic school in which I worked for ten years included a clause in our contract that "required" us to live according to the moral teachings of the Catholic Church, even if we were not Catholic.
However, I wonder if organizations like Catholic Charities suffer from the same problem as our Catholic schools and hospitals. From what training ground do Catholic schools get their teachers? They get their teachers from the same pool as public schools. Catholic school teachers are taught the same educational philosophies, the same attitudes, and many times the same morality as state school teachers. Then, just because they’re hired by a Catholic school, we suddenly expect them to be able to bring the Catholic faith to our children.
The same goes for Catholic hospitals. In our area the hospital doesn’t even hire its own doctors. It contracts with the local clinic. Then we’re shocked to find out that our Catholic hospitals are performing tubal ligations. Did we think the doctors would suddenly come to realize the truth about human sexuality after being inundated with the modern medical claptrap - just because they work in a Catholic hospital?
The solution (IMHO) would be to institute solidly Catholic training programs within our Catholic colleges and universities, and then for our Catholic institutions to hire from that pool. Of course, that would require the conversion of our Catholic colleges and universities . . .
It is precisely the lack of movement in the area of training that makes me question our commitment to Catholic identity. I do not just blame the bishops, but you would think there would be a larger pull from our shepherds in this regard. Until Catholic teachers, medical professionals and social worders are trained to be Catholic in their positions, why should we even pretend to be surprised when they get away with murder?
posted by Jeffrey | Friday, June 20, 2008
2 comments
comments
visitors since November, 2007
2 Comments:
I agree that Catholic formation is a crucial need for Catholic professionals, however, as a former Social Worker for Catholic Charities in New York, I must tell you the problem is far deeper than that.
CC hired non-Catholics with the proviso that they 'uphold Catholic teaching' in the interview. No follow up was done to reinforce this, and the Social Workers, Catholic and non, used to brag about how they ignored Church teaching on life issues over lunch. It was part of being a Social Worker to be a liberal on social issues like abortion, and that was their primary identification.
What really hurts is that priests would send Cahtolics there for counseling in faith that Church teaching would be followed.
I think you and I are saying the same thing, really. The root of the problem is that trained, well-formed Catholics are not available to hire for these positions, so we end up hiring non-Catholics or lax Catholics or ignorant Catholics. The sad thing on our part is that we then assume they are going to suddenly act Catholic just because they are working in a Catholic institution. The effects of this error - as you have pointed out - are deep and far-reaching. Thank you for sharing from your experience!
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