A House Divided: The Challenge of a Catholic Morality in a Pluralistic Society through the Lens of the Principle of Cooperation
Noah Dimas, PhD (c), Duquesne University
Student Essay - Honorable Mention

The Catholic Church of today is a far different entity compared to the early organized Church of the early Medieval Ages with strong development of unique interpretations of the Catholic faith. One arena this phenomenon is becoming slowly more apparent in is with the case of End-of-Life medicine. Over recent decades, communities around the world have legalized and normalized physician assisted death in multiple forms. Notable inclusions of these are Canada and Belgium. Canada is of significant mention as it has recently pushed forward in trying to get all of its practitioners to be some form of cooperative in assisted death through effective referrals.[i] Belgium is of note as there was a Catholic healthcare system that determined it was morally permissible to participate in assisted death under the Belgian law.[ii] These two cases will be the backdrop for this paper as they will be repeatedly utilized to illustrate the case of a diverse Catholic society around the world. Furthermore, these cases will be useful in illustrating this paper's goal of developing a more organized model of the Catholic moral principle of cooperation. This paper aims to detail how Catholicism faces challenges in the current pluralistic society at-large, especially when compared to the medical institution that has a rather specific understanding of medicine compared to Catholic medicine. This paper will also detail the concept of humble cooperation as part of a novel application principle of cooperation and its implied spectrum of cooperation.

[i] "Ontario's highest court rules doctors must give referrals for services they oppose," 2019, accessed Dec. 3, 2021, https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-appeal-court-doctors-referrals-objections-1.5136455; "Christian Medical and Dental Society of Canada v. College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario," 2019, accessed Dec. 3, 2021, https://www.ontariocourts.ca/decisions/2019/2019ONCA0393.pdf; "Effective Referrals For Medical Assistance In Dying," 2019, accessed Dec. 06, 2021, https://www.dyingwithdignity.ca/effective_referrals_for_medical_assistance_in_dying.

[ii] C. Gastmans, F. Van Neste, and P. Schotsmans, "Pluralism and ethical dialogue in Christian healthcare institutions: the view of Caritas Catholica Flanders," Christ Bioeth 12, no. 3 (Dec 2006).