ISSUE HIGHLIGHTS: OCTOBER 1997

• Special Section: "The Chaplain as Ethical Consultant."
  • Ethicist Jean deBlois, C.S.J., Vice President for Mission Services at CHA, clarifies what the well-prepared chaplain needs to know in order "to do" ethics, points out the similarities and differences in the roles of spiritual and ethical consultant, and makes recommendations for chaplains who wish to become more active in the ethical dimension of patient care.

  • Q & A on the Chaplain as Ethical Consultant. In an interview at the Center for Health Care Ethics at St. Louis University, St. Louis, NACC Executive Director Joe Driscoll and three ethicists discuss clinical and organization ethics.

  • Six chaplains share their story of an ethical dilemma and tell how the chaplain played a role in resolving the issue.

• National News:
  • The National Interfaith Coalition for Spiritual Healthcare and Counseling launches a major national effort to promote quality pastoral care and counseling throughout the United States. The formation of this coalition was announced at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., September 18, 1997. The NACC Representatives on State Coordinating Committees are listed.

  • Michele LeDoux Sakurai, NACC Commission to JCAPS, reports on the results of a JCAPS Member Survey (published in the MAY 1997 Vision) and clears up some confusion, as revealed in member responses, about the role and function of JCAPS.

  • National Convention: The National Association of Catholic Chaplains and the Catholic Health Association of the United States will hold their fourth annual pastoral convention in Colorado Springs, Colorado, March 28-31, 1998.

• President's Report:
  • NACC President Monica Lucas, S.C., reports on summer and fall activities of the NACC on both national and regional levels.

• Exeuctive Director's Column:
  • Fr. Joe Driscoll discusses the role imagination plays in ethics as the chaplain helps unfold a person's story, assisting the person in his or her quest to find meaning in the story.

• Heartbeat:
  • Barbara Schlotfeldt, Certified Chaplain in Region XII, responds to a previous Heartbeat article on being "catholic," not simply "Catholic."

• Certification:
  • Members who were certified at the June 1997 meeting of the NACC Certification Commission meeting are listed.

• Regional Happenings:
  • Catholic Chaplain Corps of the Diocese of Galveston-Houston (Texas) celebrates 30thanniversary. NACC member Fr. Alcuin Greenburg is the director of the corps.

  • Region XIII chaplain at Centura St. Anthony Hospitals, Colorado, leads a women's outreach program that has been taken out into the community. A series of "Health Wisdom for Women" helps women share and dispel "old wives' tales about "The Change" and learn healthy ways of experiencing menopause.

  • Region IV's conference October 2-3 will focus on the theme "The Catholicity of Spirituality, Forging the New Millennium."