In most of the world, the poor and sick are ignored. In Lourdes, they are number one, and people say they are drawn there because they believe it is a place of great faith. More →

March 6, 2009

Read more of Bob Abernethy’s interview with Reverend Forrest Church: Q: There came a day in 2006 when you received a call from your physician. Tell me the story. A: He called right after I’d had a barium esophagram and … More →

February 27, 2009

Alzheimer’s disease gets progressively worse and there is no known cure. After a certain point, should an Alzheimer’s patient be kept alive with a feeding tube? Many family members say, of course: they should do everything possible to prolong a loved one’s life. But some doctors say inserting a feeding tube is inhumane, because it can just prolong a vegetative state for years. More →

January 23, 2009

Father Damien de Veuster, a missionary priest from Belgium, arrived at the Hawaiian leper colony Kalaupapa in 1873 to cared for the outcasts, and eventually died of leprosy himself. More →

January 23, 2009

TIM O’BRIEN, guest anchor: The Christian Science Church, founded in the nineteenth century, teaches that physical affliction can be healed through spiritual means rather than medical procedures. Membership in the church has declined in recent decades, but some Christian Science … More →

August 1, 2008

There are large numbers of babies dying in America’s poorest neighborhoods. Ground zero for U.S. infant deaths is the poorest part of Memphis, Tennessee. More →

July 14, 2006

  BOB ABERNETHY, anchor: Have you ever had the feeling that your doctor doesn’t have enough time for you, or, if you’re a doctor, that you are under so much pressure it’s hard to be compassionate with your patients? There … More →

April 7, 2006

The yoga tradition goes back thousands of years, to ancient Indian philosophy and the Hindu religion. In this country, many Americans find the beginning exercises of yoga good ways to reduce stress. But lifelong practitioners also find it very much a spiritual discipline, using the most severe postures to help quiet the mind and achieve a sense of union with the transcendent. More →

October 15, 2004

Read the R&E interview with Archbishop Thomas Kelly of Louisville, Kentucky about end-of-life issues. More →

May 21, 2004

Read more of the Religion and Ethics interview with Dr. John Collins Harvey, who chairs the bioethics committee at Georgetown University Hospital. More →

May 21, 2004