Thanks to our members of the National Association of Catholic Nurses, USA who have compiled the following Vatican documents and links.

If you should find a link in error, please let us know.

The New Charter for Health Care Workers — 2017

• From the Pontifical Council for Pastoral Assistance to Health Care Workers “ [TRANSLATED BY THE NCBC – ORDER HERE], 2017.

The Charter for Health Care Workers — 1994

• From the Pontifical Council for Pastoral Assistance to Health Care Workers “ [READ HERE], 1994.

Congregation for Catholic Education

• Male and Female He Created Them: Towards a Path of Dialogue on the Question of Gender Theory in Education [READ HERE] February 2, 2019.

Pontifical Council for Inter-Religious Dialogue —Pontifical Council for Culture

• Jesus Christ-The Bearer of the Water of Life: A Christian Reflection on the “New Age,” 2003

Church documents on Marriage & the Family

• Amoris Laetitia (On Love in the Family) Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation promulgated by Pope Francis, 2016
• Gratissimam Sane (Letter to Families) promulgated by Pope St. John Paul II, 1994
• Familiaris Consortio (On the Role of the Christian Family in the Modern World), Apostolic Exhortation, Pope St. John Paul II, 1981
• Humane Vitae (On Human Life), Encyclical, Pope Paul VI, 1968
• (Papal Directives for the Woman of Today), Address, Pope Pius XII, 1947
• Casti Connubii (On Christian Marriage), Encyclical, Pope Pius XI, 1930

Selected Papal Writings

Pope Francis

• Address to the Italian National Federation of the Orders of Doctors & Dental Surgeons, September 20, 2019
• Euthanasia, Redemptive Suffering, Hope.
  Address to the Italian National Federation of the Orders of Doctors & Dental Surgeons, 20Sep2019
• Euthanasia, Redemptive Suffering, Hope.
  Speech of His Holiness Francis to Members of the Italian Association of Medical Oncology (AIOM), Pope Francis, 2Sep2019
• Evangelii Gaudium (Joy of the Gospel), Apostolic Exhortation on the Proclamation of the Gospel in Today’s World, Pope Francis, 2013

Pope Benedict XVI

• Caritas in Veritate (Charity in Truth), Encyclical, Pope Benedict XVI, 2009

Pope St. John Paul II

• Evangelium Vitae (Gospel of Life), Encyclical, Pope John Paul II, 1995
• Veritatis Splendor (Splendor of Truth), Encyclical, Pope John Paul II, 1993
• Message of the Holy Father Pope John Paul II for 1st Annual World Day of the Sick, Pope John Paul II, February 11, 1993
• Letter of the Holy Father establishing World Day of the Sick, Pope John Paul II, May 13, 1992
  
• Moto Proprio Dolentium Hominum establishing Pontifical Commission for the Apostolate of Health Care Workers, February 11, 1985
  [Note His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI appointed NACN-USA member and past International, PanAmerican and National President Marylee Meehan, MA, RN to serve on this commission which she did from 2011-2017).
  
• Salvifici Doloris (On the Meaning of Christian Suffering), Encyclical, Pope John Paul II, 1984
  
• Address to the Sick gathered at the Shrine of Jasna Gora, 1979

Pope Paul VI

• Humane Vitae (On Human Life), Encyclical, Pope Paul VI, 1968

Pope Pius XII

• Artificial Fertilization, Direct Sterilization, Procreation of Persons with Genetic Defects, Speech of His Holiness Pius XII to the VII Congress of the International Society of Hematology, Friday, September 12, 1958
• Ethics of the Use of Psychotropic Medication in Psychiatric Therapy, Speech, Pope Pius XII to the Participants in the 1st General Assembly of the Collegium International Neuro-Psycho-Pharmacologicum, Tuesday, 9th September 1958
• Some Biological Aspects of Blood Genetics and the Problems that it poses, Speech of His Holiness Pius XII to the VII Congress of the International Association of Blood Transfusion, Friday, September 5, 1958
• Defects that Prevent Harmonious Collaboration, Radio Address of His Holiness Pius XII to the First Catholic World Health Conference, Sunday, July 27, 1958
• On respect for the Privacy of the Person, Address of His Holiness Pope Pius XII to the Participants at the XIII International Congress of Applied Psychology, Thursday, April 10, 1958
• On the Religious and Moral Implications of Analgesia, Speech, Pope Pius XII, 1957
• On Natural Birth without Pain, Speech, Pope Pius XII, 1956
• Is it Morally Permissible to Remove a Healthy Organ in Order to Prevent the Progress of a Milady which Jeopardizes Human Life, Address by His Holiness Pope Pius XII to the XXVI Congress of Italian Association of Urology, October 8, 1953 [UNABLE TO LOCATE ORIGINAL DOCUMENT]
• Ethical Evaluation of Modern Warfare and its Methods / Limits of Medical Experiments on Living Men, Address of His Holiness Pius XII to Participants in the VIII Congress of the World Medical Association, Thursday, 30 September 1954
• Principles that Apply to the Scientific Data of Genetics, Address of His Holiness Pius XII to the First International Congress of Medical Genetics, September 7, 1953
• The Fundamental Attitude that is imposed on the Christian psychologist and psychotherapist, Address of the Holy Father Pius XII to the Participants in the V International Congress of Psychotherapy and Clinical Psychology, Monday, April 13, 1953
• The Moral Limits of Medical Methods of Research and Treatment, Address of His Holiness Pope Pius XII to the Participants in the 1st International Congress of Histopathology of the Nervous System, Sunday, September 14, 1952
• Nature of Their Profession, Address of His Holiness Pope Pius XII to the Italian Midwives, October 29, 1951

Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF)

• Letter Samaritanus bonus:  On the care of persons in the critical and terminal phases of life, 22.09.2020.
• Instruction Ad resurgendum cum Christo regarding the burial of the deceased and the conservation of the ashes in the Case of Cremation, CDF, 15 August 2016 (Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary)
• Responses to Certain Questions of the USCCB Concerning Artificial Nutrition and Hydration, CDF, 2007
• Dignitas Personae (Instruction on Certain Bioethical Questions), CDF, 2008
• Clarification on Procured Abortions, CDF, 2009
• Responses to Questions Proposed Concerning “Uterine Isolation” and Related Matters, CDF, 1993
• Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on Some Aspects of Christian Meditation, CDF, October 15, 1989
•  The Moral Norm of “Humane Vitae” and Pastoral Duty, CDF, 1989
• Donum Vitae (Instructions on Respect for Human Life in its Origin and on the Dignity of Procreation), CDF, 1987
• Iura et bona (Declaration on Euthanasia), (CDF), 1980
• Persona Humana (Declaration on Certain Questions Concerning Sexual Ethics), CDF, 1975
• Responses to Questions Concerning Sterilization in Catholic Hospitals, CDF, 1975
• Declaration on Procured Abortions, CDF, 1974
• Letter to the Bishop of Cleveland regarding the Questions Proposed on the Cremation of Fetuses and Members of the Human Body, CDF, 1967