CCBI Resources for COVID-19 Matters – May 20, 2020

Dear Friends of CCBI,

Many of us are delighted that some more restrictions are being eased, and now some of us can return to ‘the office’ to pick up where we left off in mid-March. CCBI is allowed to re-enter our building, not without some misgivings. We have been careful for a long time, as so many people have, and we are anxious to maintain the fairly good record that Ontario has maintained re COVID-19. I say ‘fairly,’ because the fact is that around 6000 people have died in Canada,  around 2 500 from Ontario, and this is appalling! Since we know most of those who succumbed to the virus are our elderly relatives and neighbours, we need to stay on the alert from now on to make sure this does not happen again. We cannot stop new viruses, but we can change our response.

More elder care, more palliative care, more preparation for medical emergencies, more awareness of the socially marginalized:  these social and political questions are covered in Catholic Social Teaching, which applies to Bioethics as it does to every area of ethics. CCBI will be taking all these questions into account in its programs for the foreseeable future. We hope you will join our meetings and discussions when we are able to meet again in person!

Warm regards,

Moira McQueen, LLB, MDiv, PhD
Executive Director, Canadian Catholic Bioethics Institute
Lecturer, Faculty of Theology
University of St. Michael’s College in the University of Toronto

This week’s articles for review include Pope Francis’ Invitation to respond in Laudato Si’ week:  An integrated theology cares for people during pandemics and looks to protection of their earthly home:

Pope Francis

Mental Health Concerns

https://www.voanews.com/covid-19-pandemic/un-urges-countries-focus-mental-health-coronavirus-response-0

https://globalnews.ca/video/6954145/coronavirus-mental-health-the-secondary-pandemic

Ethical Vaccines  / UN  COVID-19 Abortion concerns:

https://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/usccb-and-pro-lifers-demand-morally-sound-coronavirus-vaccine