The Institution of the European Bioethics working group

 

In implementation of the resolutions, and the wishes, of the lastGeneral Chapter, the Europe Commission has established its Bioethics WorkingGroup. The Commission has appointed Dr. Salvino Leone to serve as President,with the following members: Dr. Maria Teresa Iannone, Dr. Corinna Porteri, Mr.Margarita Bofarull, Sr. Maria Carmen Massé, Dr. José Maria Galan, Dr. JurgenWallner, Brother Bruno Saintot, and Brother Lucas Dmowski. These are the samepeople who have been long been involved in Bioethics in the Order and some ofthem have been, or are still, members of the General Commission on Bioethics.

The new European Bioethics Working Group was installed on 29 November,and set out its operational lines which basically consist of raising the Order’s awareness ofBioethics in Europe; providing formationand identifying the most appropriate ways of achieving this, and debating within the Order in Europe themost topical and critical issues in the field of Bioethics. These mainlyinclude end-of-life issues, the ethics of management, safeguarding vulnerablepeople, the sustainability of the planet with particular reference to Laudato sii, and various clinicalBioethics issues.

The priority task of the Working Group will be to rally the Order inEurope around commonly shared objectives, decisions, languages, and choices,avoiding fragmenting values while respecting different cultural sensitivitiesand individual consciences.

The Working Group has already undertaken a number of specificcommitments, such as mapping what is already being done in Bioethics in theOrder's European facilities, studying end-of-life problems (comparing thelegislation of different Member States of the European Union, and holding themup against the Order's Charter of Hospitality, etc.), and a project to identifyways of implementing different types of management ethics.

The Group will also work on exchanging experiences and projects withsimilar groups in the other Regional Commissions of the Order. While it is notan autonomous legal entity (being a structure belonging to the HospitallerOrder) it is hoped that its work can attract the attention of European bodieswith which it will be able to engage in dialogue in the future, in the name ofthe Hospitaller Order. 



 

Copyright © 2024 Fatebenefratelli