Ethics on Call

In this crossover episode, Dan and Tom are interviewed by Brian Reardon (VP of Communications & Marketing for CHA) and Josh Matejka (Executive Producer and Director of Creative Services at CHA), co-hosts of the "Health Calls" podcast. This is the first episode of their new Health Reimagined season where they explore how moral imagination can help transform healthcare across the United States by responding creatively to today’s most pressing challenges. 

Drawing on Catholic social teaching, whole-person care, spiritual practices, and the healing ministry of Jesus, the conversation examines how leaders can integrate technical solutions while also imagining new possibilities that promote human flourishing, uphold human dignity, and strengthen the common good. Dan and Tom explain how moral imagination bridges theology and practice, helping organizations address emerging questions around AI, access to care, partnerships, and healthcare ethics. They also discuss the work of the Center and preview the work ahead of them in 2026 and 2027, including academic papers, conference visits, and podcasts.

Subscribe to Ethics on Call on YouTube, Spotify, Apple or Simplecast. Visit our website, theologyandethics.org, for more information on the Center for Theology & Ethics in Catholic Health.

In this episode of Ethics on Call, Dan and Tom examine Pope Leo XIV’s new encyclical, Magnifica humanitas, exploring its ethical vision for artificial intelligence and its implications for Catholic healthcare. Through interviews with theologian Nichole Flores, Ph.D. (Associate Professor Religious Studies at the University of Virginia) and AI leader Byron Yount, Ph.D. (Chief Data and Artificial Intelligence Officer and VP of Transformation Operations at Mercy), the conversation highlights key themes such as the dignity of human work, the risks of data exploitation, and the moral responsibility to prioritize the vulnerable. 

The episode situates AI within the broader tradition of Catholic social teaching, challenging listeners to move beyond purely technical questions and engage deeper concerns about human flourishing, solidarity, and the common good. With practical insights and theological depth, this discussion invites healthcare leaders and practitioners to discern how AI can enhance, not diminish, the human person and the healing mission at the heart of Catholic healthcare. 

Links to the text of the encyclical and information about our guests can be found here: 

Subscribe to Ethics on Call on YouTube, Spotify, Apple or Simplecast. Visit our website, theologyandethics.org, for more information on the Center for Theology & Ethics in Catholic Health.

This episode features the opening keynote address from Monsignor Renzo Pegoraro, President of the Pontifical Academy for Life, at the conference hosted by the Center on "AI and Medicine: Artificial Intelligence, Authentic Mercy: Navigating AI Ethics in Catholic Health," recorded live at Boston College on March 20, 2026.   

Monsignor Pegoraro's talk is titled "AI and Medicine: The Challenge of Human Dignity," and he outlines the history of the Vatican's engagement with the ethics of AI, and the main principles that have emerged from that work to guide its use in health care.  

His keynote is followed by two respondents who address the topic of "Catholic and Secular AI Ethics in Dialogue." 

Dan and Tom conclude with very brief reflections and takeaways from these conversations for those engaged in the work of AI in health care.  

We at the Center for Theology & Ethics in Catholic Health extend our gratitude to Boston College Institute for Liberal Arts for co-hosting the conference.  

Links to the Rome Call can be found here: https://www.romecall.org/

Subscribe to Ethics on Call on YouTube, Spotify, Apple or Simplecast. Visit our website, theologyandethics.org, for more information on the Center for Theology & Ethics in Catholic Health.

What happens when some of the nation’s leading voices in AI ethics, medicine, theology, and health care leadership come together to tackle one of the most urgent questions of our time?

In this special episode of Ethics on Call, Dan moderates a powerful roundtable conversation recorded live at the conference: Artificial Intelligence, Authentic Mercy: Navigating AI Ethics in Catholic Health (Boston College | March 20–21, 2026)

Joining the discussion:

Dan and Tom also unpack several key takeaways from the conversation, including what Catholic healthcare can contribute to the national AI conversation.

Many conference participants also endorsed a statement outlining general norms for AI use in Catholic health care.

Subscribe to Ethics on Call on YouTube, Spotify, Apple or Simplecast. Visit our website, theologyandethics.org, for more information on the Center for Theology & Ethics in Catholic Health.

In this episode, Dan and Tom interview Dr. Mark Kuczewski about his recent work advocating for immigrant patients during the ongoing federal immigration enforcement surge. They discuss the following:

Dr. Kuczewski is the Fr. Michael English Professor of Medical Ethics and Director of the Neiswanger Institute for Bioethics and Health Policy at Loyola University Chicago, a past president of the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities (ASBH), and a Fellow of the Hastings Center. 

Below are links to the resources and publications referenced in this episode:

Subscribe to Ethics on Call on YouTube, Spotify, Apple or Simplecast. Visit our website, theologyandethics.org, for more information on the Center for Theology & Ethics in Catholic Health.

Dan and Tom interview four leaders in Catholic health on the newly promulgated 7th edition of ERDs.  They discuss the history of the ERDs, how they are being implemented by ethicists, mission leaders, and health care professionals, and highlight the significance of several developments in the 7th edition. They also identify how these directives enable Catholic health care to promote the dignity and flourishing of vulnerable patients, such as women and mothers, persons experiencing gender dysphoria, and patients at the end of life.

Our guests on this episode include:

Fr Charlie Bouchard, OP, STD

(Catholic University of America)

Senior Fellow and adjunct Professor in Ethics at Aquinas Institute of Theology, St Louis, MO

Former VP for Theological Education, Ascension Health and Senior Director, Ethics and Sponsorship, CHA

Amy Hertweck-Warner, DO, MA, HEC-C

Director, Ethics Mercy St. Louis

Jenna Speckart, D.Be, MA (Theology)

Vice President Mission & Ethics Operations, Mercy

Dr. Anitha Rayani, MD, Palliative Care

SSM Health-St. Joseph’s Hospital, St. Charles, MO

Below is a link to the article we referred to in this episode:

Ron Hamel, “100th Anniversary - The Ethical and Religious Directives: Looking Back to Move Forward,” Health Progress (2019)

Subscribe to Ethics on Call on YouTube, Spotify, Apple or Simplecast. Visit our website, theologyandethics.org, for more information on the Center for Theology & Ethics in Catholic Health.

In November 2025, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops voted to approve a new 7th Edition of the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services.  In this episode, Dan and Tom talk with Nathaniel Blanton Hibner, Ph.D., Senior Director of Ethics at the Catholic Health Association, who discusses the process by which this edition was developed over the past four years.  

Following the interview, Dan and Tom provide their analysis of the new text, first exploring what they see as the four "under the radar" developments. They then turn to the four significant developments of the 7th edition, with special attention to the new directives on care for patients experiencing gender dysphoria.  

Links to the documents and articles noted in the podcast can be found below:

The Ethical and Religious Directors for Catholic Health Care Services

Edmund D. Pellegrino, "The Commodification of Medical and Health Care: The Moral Consequences of a Paradigm Shift from a Professional to a Market Ethic," in Pellegrino's Clinical Bioethics: A Compendium, Edited by G. Kevin Donovan, David G. Miller, and Claudia Ruiz Sotomayor (Catholic University of America Press, 2025): 387 - 408.

National Institute on Aging, "What Are Palliative Care and Hospice Care?" (2021)

Ron Hamel, "Ethics - Palliative Care - Stealth Euthanasia?", Health Progress (January-February 2014)

Subscribe to Ethics on Call on YouTube, Spotify, Apple or Simplecast. Visit our website, theologyandethics.org, for more information on the Center for Theology & Ethics in Catholic Health.

Ethicists, clinicians, and administrators share a sincere commitment to building health care ministries that serve those in need and strengthen the social conditions that support healthy communities. But how can we achieve this without a clear account of what social structures and culture are, how they change, and—most importantly—how they can help us provide the best care, especially to those who are most poor and vulnerable?

In this episode Dan and Tom begin by reviewing the ways that critical realist social theory has contributed to a Christian ethical analysis of social structures and culture.  Then they consider two recent articles that apply these insights to clinical and bioethics, and to building healthy hospital cultures.

The articles and resources discussed in this episode can be found below:

Finn, Daniel K. “Ch. 4: Social Structures,” in Moral Agency Within Social Structures and Culture: A Primer on Critical Realism for Christian Ethics. Edited by Daniel K. Finn. Georgetown University Press. 2020: 29-41.

Kolmes, Sara, Ariana Thompson-Lastad, Kevin Dirksen, Kayla Tabari, and Seth M. Holmes. “Incorporating Structural Competency into Clinical Ethics: Piloting New Bioethics Education.” Journal of Clinical Ethics, Vol. 26, No. 2 (2025): 158-166. https://doi.org/10.1086 /734776

Miller, Ireland. “Building an Ethical Hospital Culture: Integrating Ethics into Organizational Frameworks in Healthcare.” Journal of Health Ethics & Administration, Vol. 11, No. 3 (2025): 14-24.  https://doi.org/10.22461/jhea.6.7164  

“Case Studies in Social Medicine,” New England Journal of Medicine, Massachusetts Medical Society, https://www.nejm.org/case-studies-in-social-medicine. 

Subscribe to Ethics on Call on YouTube, Spotify, Apple or Simplecast. Visit our website, theologyandethics.org, for more information on the Center for Theology & Ethics in Catholic Health.

This episode includes three interviews recorded live from the floor of the exhibit hall of the ASBH annual conference in October 2025 with the following bioethicists:

• Michael McCarthy, Associate Professor and the Graduate Program Director for Healthcare Mission Leadership at Loyola University Chicago
• Laura Webster, Northwest Region Vice President of Ethics at Common Spirit Health; and
• Jason Eberl, the Mader Chair in Health Care Ethics at St. Louis University. 

Dan and Tom also discuss their takeaways and learnings from some of the papers and sessions at the conference, summarize the trends they see reflected in the field of bioethics today, and consider their implications for the Catholic health ministry.

You can find the article, books, and authors cited in this episode below:

Jerome Adams, M.D. Crisis and Chaos: Lessons from the Front Lines of the War Against COVID-19. Post Hill Press. 2023. 

Dennis Gonzalez and Becket Gremmels. "Mission — Moving Beyond 'No Margin, No Mission' in Catholic Health Care." Health Progress (Spring 2025).

Rosemary Garland-Thomson

Harold Braswell

Miguel Romero

Devan Stahl

Gerald McKenny

Alasdair MacIntyre. Dependent Rational Animals: Why Humans Need the Virtues. Open Court. 1999.

Subscribe to Ethics on Call on YouTube, Spotify, Apple or Simplecast. Visit our website, theologyandethics.org, for more information on the Center for Theology & Ethics in Catholic Health.

Dan and Tom discuss Pope Leo XIV’s new apostolic exhortation, Dilexi te. They place the document in its context, explore its content and structure, and analyze its relevance for Catholic health care. 

Read Dilexi te here.

Subscribe to Ethics on Call on YouTube, Spotify, Apple or Simplecast. Visit our website, theologyandethics.org, for more information on the Center for Theology & Ethics in Catholic Health.