Last updated on:
6/4/2008 |
Author: ProCon.org
Richard McBrien Biography
- Title:
- Crowley-O'Brien Professor of Theology at the University of Notre Dame
- Position:
- Not Clearly Pro or Con to the question "Should Euthanasia or Physician-Assisted Suicide Be Legal?"
- Reasoning:
-
“The traditional teaching of the Catholic Church for at least four centuries–a teaching reaffirmed and extended by the most prominent of the pre-Vatican II popes, Pius XII (1939-58)–distinguished between ordinary and extraordinary means of preserving life. No one, the church consistently taught, is obliged to use extraordinary means to sustain their life on this earth…
Almost every reputable Catholic moral theologian who commented on the Schiavo case concluded that continuing the use of a feeding tube to keep Mrs. Schiavo alive was a clear instance of an extraordinary means, and as such could be dispensed with.”
“The Schiavo Case Re-Vistied,” The Tidings, 2005
- Theoretical Expertise Ranking:
-
Experts
Individuals with MDs, JDs, PhDs, or equivalent advanced degrees in fields relevant to end-of-life issues. Also top-level government officials (such as foreign leaders, US presidents, Founding Fathers, Supreme Court Justices, members of legislative bodies, cabinet members, military leaders, etc.) with positions relevant to end-of-life. - Involvement and Affiliations:
-
- Winner, John Courtney Murray Award “for outstanding and distinguished achievement in Theology,” Catholic Theological Society of America, 1976
- President, Catholic Theological Society of America, 1973-74
- Crowley-O’Brien Professor of Theology, University of Notre Dame
- Writer, syndicated weekly theology column for the Catholic press
- Frequent on-air network commentator for Church-related events
- Priest of the Archdiocese of Hartford, Connecticut
- Education:
-
- STD, Pontifical Gregorian University, 1967
- MA, St. John Seminary, 1962
- AA, St. Thomas Seminary, 1956
- Other:
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- Richard McBrien died on Jan. 25, 2015 at 78 years old
- Quoted in:
