Jesuit Partners Judy and Tom Kestly exchange ideas with Fr. Myles N. Sheehan, SJ-MD, during a Jesuit Partnership event at the Marquette University Alumni Memorial Union Ballroom hosted by the Wisconsin Province Society of Jesus and the Jesuit Partnership Council of Milwaukee.

Fr. Sheehan, senior associate dean for education programs at Loyola University Chicago’s Stritch School of Medicine, gave a presentation titled “Lessons from the End of Life,” a topic that intrigued a crowd of more than 400 friends, benefactors, and Jesuits who came to the August 31 event.

Fr. Sheehan discussed the importance of treating the whole person, rather than just their illness and contrasted American cultural values of individualism, personal independence, wealth, success and youth with Catholic values of the meaning of community, duty to others, respect for life and the dignity of all peoples. He pointed out that as Catholics, hope is not limited to this world alone.

The medical community, says Fr. Sheehan, should, among other things:

• realize that death is not necessarily the enemy because, ultimately, all people die
• avoid imposing aggressive therapies when patients are unlikely to benefit
• speak openly about death and dying; ensure comfort and provide symptom control and compassion, and care for the patient as a person, not just as a collection of symptoms and a disease

He also asked his audience to ask themselves if they place more faith in medicine than God and to recognize that death is a part of life - medicine cannot stop death.

“Dr. Sheehan’s views are especially relevant in these times,” says Fr. Richard A. McGarrity, SJ, president of the Jesuit Partnership. “One needs only to think of the deaths - and lives - of Pope John Paul II and Terry Schiavo to realize how important this discussion of the end of life is.”

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