'Begging Without Shame' Medieval Mendicant Orders Relied on Contributions.

The period from the 11th to 13th centuries witnessed the rise of a money economy in Europe. Cities grew and multiplied; more and more land was cultivated, increasing the wealth of landowners; and a new-sprung merchant class made it possible for those who were not part of the aristocracy to accumulate wealth.¹

Ethics: Stewardship and Catholic Health Care.

There is an ethical issue closely related to philanthropy that also is a core value for many Catholic health care systems and included in the "Shared Statement of Identity for the Catholic Health Care Ministry."¹ That value is stewardship. Some have suggested that "stewardship is the recurring theme in the Catholic social tradition that speaks most clearly to how and why people should care about the commons."² Yet, it would actually be difficult to find the term stewardship mentioned at all in the Catholic social tradition.³ And often in the more general literature (and likely in the minds of many in health care), stewardship has been limited to the notion of good financial management.

To Reverse the Cycle of Violence, Try Humility.

The social tradition of the church constantly has decried violence. Pope Paul VI was clear when he stated: "The Church cannot accept violence ... because she knows that violence always provokes violence and irresistibly engenders new forms of oppression and enslavement."'.

Health Care Decisions for the Common Good.

The Second Vatican Council developed the church's classic definition of the common good more than 50 years ago when it described the common good as "the sum of those conditions of social life which allow social groups, and their individual members, relatively thorough access to their own fulfillment."¹ This is a theological, and not simply a political, description. As such, it needs a bit of explanation, especially when it comes to understanding what "access to one's fulfillment" means in the Catholic theological tradition.

Mission and Leadership: Developing a Catholic Ministry Assessment.

The issue of ministerial identity for the Catholic health ministry has been an important one for the past decades. Early in the 2000s, the Catholic Health Association engaged the ministry regarding the issue of Catholic identity, resulting in the "Shared Statement of Identity for the Catholic Health Ministry," along with its core value commitments.¹