Stories of Catholic Health Care from the AIDS Crisis

11/14/23 • 21 min

World AIDS Day is commemorated every year on Dec. 1. As we approach this year's observance, how do the stories of those who pioneered care for AIDS patients inform our care today?

Paulo Pontemayor, CHA's Senior Director of Government Relations, and Michael O'Loughlin, national correspondent for America magazine and author of Hidden Mercy, join the show to discuss O'Loughlin’s contributions to Hold Out Your Hand, a new resource offered by CHA. O'Loughlin discusses his work telling the stories of Catholic caregivers during the AIDS crisis and offers thoughts on how these stories can inspire Catholic health care providers to care for the marginalized in the future.

Resources

Listen to Plague, a podcast produced by America Media and hosted by Michael O'Loughlin

Read Hidden Mercy, Michael O'Loughlin’s book on stories of Catholics and the AIDS crisis

Read this story about St. Mary's CARE Center from Catholic Health World

World AIDS Day is commemorated every year on Dec. 1. As we approach this year's observance, how do the stories of those who pioneered care for AIDS patients inform our care today?

Resources

Listen to Plague, a podcast produced by America Media and hosted by Michael O'Loughlin

Read Hidden Mercy, Michael O'Loughlin’s book on stories of Catholics and the AIDS crisis

Read this story about St. Mary's CARE Center from Catholic Health World

Previous Episode

Laudate Deum and the Urgent Call to Climate Action

Pope Francis recently released his new apostolic exhortation, Laudate Deum, calling for a renewed sense of urgency in combatting climate change. As he cites overwhelming scientific evidence that the world is facing a climate crisis that is caused by human activity, how should Catholic health care best respond to this urgent Apostolic exhortation?

Indu Spugnardi, Director of Advocacy and Resource Development for CHA, and Fr. Daniel Horan, Professor of Philosophy, Religious Studies and Theology at St. Mary's College and Director of the Center for the Study of Spirituality, join the show to discuss the new apostolic exhortation and Fr. Daniel’s coverage of the release for the National Catholic Reporter. Fr. Daniel discusses our relationship to the world around us, the document’s inspiration from St. Francis of Assisi, and having hope for the future.

Resources

Read Laudate Deum at the Vatican's official website

Read Fr. Daniel’s column on Laudate Deum at the National Catholic Reporter

Visit CHA's Environment page for more resources

Next Episode

Caring for Double-Duty Caregivers

Do you know what a “double-duty caregiver” is? Chances are that if you work in health care, you know a few of them... and you may even be one yourself!

Betsy Taylor, editor of Health Progress, and Debra Kelsey-Davis, co-founder of Nourish for Caregivers and Sagacity.Care, join the show to discuss Kelsey-Davis’s recent article for the fall issue of Health Progress. They discuss how COVID-19 impacted the stress levels of double-duty caregivers, raising awareness and how Catholic health systems can better care and advocate for the double-duty caregivers working in the ministry.

Resources

Read Debra Kelsey-Davis’s article, “Double-Duty Caregiving: Clinicians Caring for Others at Work and Home Need Support” for Health Progress

Visit the Nourish for Caregivers website