Purple Catholicism

Yes, we rationed care at the height of the pandemic and the elderly paid the price

By Charles C. Camosy — June 18, 2020

(RNS) — With the coming decision about who gets the first doses of lifesaving drugs, we will have the rare immediate second chance to acknowledge our mistake and reverse course.

St. Paul would say, ‘Don’t be like Mike’

By Charles C. Camosy — May 21, 2020

(RNS) — I was prepared to be reminded of Michael Jordan’s greatness in ’The Last Dance.’ I was not prepared to be confronted with the cost at which that greatness came.

Nonhuman animals and the COVID-19 pandemic

By Charles C. Camosy — May 6, 2020

(RNS) — Things will go badly for us as long as we live in a throwaway culture that turns animals into mass-produced objects to be used as a mere means to our ends.

Do we do everything in our power to lower the COVID-19 infection rate?

By Charles C. Camosy — April 20, 2020

(RNS) — The medical ethics of this crisis are different, in that choosing a higher possibility of exposure to COVID-19 puts others at higher risk as well.

We need to respect the choice not to die of COVID-19 alone

By Charles C. Camosy — April 13, 2020

(RNS) — There are values that trump the singular goal of lowering COVID-19 infection rates. One of those is accompanying loved ones as they pass away and providing them with clergy.

Ration health care? Yes. Abandon our humanity? No.

By Charles C. Camosy — March 24, 2020

(RNS) — The claim that ‘we’re at war’ is a mixed blessing. We need to ramp up our efforts to fight this invisible enemy, but historically being at war means violating our most fundamental values.

Health care for all but the most vulnerable

By Charles C. Camosy — February 28, 2020

(RNS) — In the latest example of our political incoherence, the party of ‘government staying out of health care decisions’ was blocked in its attempt to pass the Born Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act by the party of ‘health care for all.’

Jean Vanier and the corrupting power of sexual sin

By Charles C. Camosy — February 26, 2020

(RNS) — If Jean Vanier is not good — indeed, far from it — who can be good?

Lent’s countercultural call is as old as the church—and more necessary than ever

By Charles C. Camosy, Sherif K. Moussa — February 20, 2020

(RNS) — Lent can help us turn away from politics and focus on how our participation in a consumerist, throwaway culture contributes to inequality.

The Focolare have two words for our broken political dialogue: Jesus forsaken

By Charles C. Camosy — January 31, 2020

(RNS) — The lay Catholic group teaches a model of dialogue that urges us to Christ-like suffering as a bridge to those with opposing views.

Latest research on vegetative state calls for new civil rights movement

By Charles C. Camosy — January 22, 2020

(RNS) — In the 15 years since Terri Schiavo died, changes in medical research and technology give us reason to totally rethink fundamental questions about patients thought to be 'vegetative.'

Helping the vulnerable at risk for assisted suicide

By Charles C. Camosy — December 30, 2019

(RNS) — Physician-assisted suicide is one of the few issues that doesn't fall into the well-worn grooves of the culture wars. For that reason, we have a chance to resist it.

Peter Singer on why we don’t help the global poor and why we should

By Charles C. Camosy — December 5, 2019

(RNS) — 'To live an ethical life it's not enough to refrain from lying, stealing or killing,' says the renowned bioethicist. 'We have to assist people who lack the necessities they need to survive.'

My friendship with Peter Singer 10 years on

By Charles C. Camosy — November 21, 2019

(RNS) — As Peter Singer's influential 2009 book 'The Life You Can Save,' is reissued in a 10th anniversary edition, our Catholic ethicist reviews his unlikely friendship with the champion of abortion rights.