Moral dilemma a side effect of suffering

Centura’s firing of Dr. Barbara Morris was a huge mistake and a loss of compassionate support for those she served. Sadly, rigid misinterpretations of Scripture have caused needless suffering to terminally ill folks like Mahoney.

As a minister, I agree with Christian author and speaker Jamie Rohrbaugh, who writes, “To Hell with Redemptive Suffering.” It is a lie. My Bible is filled with stories of healing for those who suffer.

Could it be that death and subsequent transition to a more perfect afterlife experience is the right kind of healing?

The reporting after the firing of Barbara Morris from Centura Health portrays her as a victim of an archaic and tone-deaf religious institution. Nothing could be further from the truth.

It is no secret that the Catholic Church and Catholic institutions, such as Centura Health, strongly believe that every human life has inherent dignity and value from conception till natural death. They oppose the state-sanctioned killing of human beings in abortion, assisted suicide and euthanasia because of this reverence for life. The Catholic Ethical and Religious Directives serve as a beautiful moral framework for the delivery of loving and compassionate care in Catholic health care institutions.

In order for Dr. Morris to receive privileges to practice in a Catholic health care institution, she would have to read the directives and affirm that her practice would be guided by these moral tenets.

The Catholic Church is not the only entity that opposes assisted suicide. The American College of Physicians, representing more than 150,000 internists, and the American Medical Association oppose physician-assisted suicide.

I find that many of the Catholic Church’s doctrines are dubious, but the concept of “redemptive suffering” is pernicious.

If Centura Health actually believes this, why would they treat any patient for anything?