AJCommittee and Saint Leo College Co-Sponsor National Conference on Catholic and Jewish Perspectives on Bio-Ethics

American Jewish Committee
Tuesday, 27 January 1998

Recent medical advances have created enormously complex ethical questions and dilemmas. Critical concerns such as new reproductive techniques, organ transplants and life sustaining treatment have sparked controversy among religious and medical leaders.

The American Jewish Committee and Saint Leo College are co-sponsoring a two-day "National Conference on Catholic and Jewish Perspectives on Bio-Ethics," in Saint Leo, Florida, located near Tampa, February 9-10.

Conference Co-Chair Rabbi A. James Rudin, National Interreligious Affairs Director of the American Jewish Committee, said, "This pioneering conference provides a unique opportunity for Jews and Catholics from the religious, medical, legal and academic communities to address these issues together in a spirit of mutual respect and understanding." Rabbi Rudin is also a member of the New York State Task Force on Life and the Law.

Rabbi Rudin added that "from the beginning of history, religion and medicine have maintained a close, even intimate relationship. It is a Biblical commandment to heal the diseases of our neighbors, and physicians and nurses have frequently come from members of the religious community."

Dr. Robert Imperato, Conference Co-Chair, and Dean, Division of Liberal Arts & Sciences, Saint Leo College, asserted, "The Jewish and Catholic communities represent powerful spiritual traditions which bear responsibility for shaping future attitudes concerning bio-ethical decisions."

"We need to support each other if our collective wisdom is to find a voice in contemporary America," Dr. Imperato stressed.

Dr. Imperato and Rabbi Rudin will join a forum of distinguished participants including Archbishop Francis E. George, Archdiocese of Chicago, Bishop Robert N. Lynch, Diocese of St. Petersburg, Dr. Edmund Pellegrino, John Carroll Professor of Medicine & Medical Ethics at Georgetown University, Dr. Alan Fleischman, Senior Vice President of the New York Academy of Medicine, and Dr. Jeffrey Kahn, Director, Center for Biomedical Ethics at The University of Minnesota.

Topics to be discussed will include: "The Ethical Implications of Bio-Ethics;" "Patient Autonomy In Hospitals and Hospices: The Religious Response;" "Bio-Ethical Education: Possibilities & Problems;" and "Government's Role in Bio-Ethics."

The conference is coordinated by Harriet Abrahm, AJC's Regional Director, Southwest Florida Chapter.

For more information, or to contact American Jewish Committee, see their website at: www.ajc.org