/library/oar/handle/123456789/2553 2025-11-15T22:02:23Z /library/oar/handle/123456789/130072 Title: Baptism in the spirit : a study of it meaning as contemplative experience Abstract: The Catholic Charismatic Renewal is one of the ecclesial movements that emerged in the Catholic Church in the period following the Second Vatican Council. Central to the Catholic Charismatic Renewal (and all the other branches of Pentecostal Christianity) is the experience commonly referred to as "baptism in the Spirit". From the beginning of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal, baptism in the Spirit was recognized as its distinguishing feature. Many Catholics all over the world claim that through this experience their life has been touched by the Lord and assert that they came in contact with his divine presence. This study attempts to examine the theology of the baptism in the Spirit and see how it is being received, lived and disseminated within the same movement. This will be done by examining its interpretation by eight persons from different backgrounds, status and age, who are all involved in the Catholic Charismatic Renewal. Furthermore, this study will examine the connection between baptism in the Holy Spirit and Christian contemplation and how its elements and dynamics contribute to a deeper union with God. It analyses its significance from the viewpoint of the Christian contemplative tradition, and attempts also to see how this affects the life of individuals and whether it helps them to develop and sustain a contemplative experience. Finally, this study will offer reflections and recommendations on how the Pentecostal grace of baptism in the Spirit may continue to be received as a living grace and lived among Catholics, both as individuals and in groups. Description: M.A.SPIRITUALITY 2014-01-01T00:00:00Z /library/oar/handle/123456789/130025 Title: The gift of death : the meeting place between humanistic resistance and transcendental acceptance Abstract: The inquiry of this dissertation is the 'Being' question of the human person at the threshold of death. Through the contribution of Martin Heidegger and Hans Urs von Balthasar respectively, I will illustrate that ende is not "wholly-singularized" but relational in its directedness. The exposition will focus on: (i) Heidegger's dramatic "can be" at the limit of the nothingness of death; (ii) Balthasar' s miracle of Being at the final manifestation of the non-word on the cross as translucid affiliation; (iii) The minister as the explicit being whose call couples "his death" and "our death" in his own person. These three nodes will show death to be the dramatic crossroad where human life is traversed by the gift of divine life. Description: S.TH.L. 2014-01-01T00:00:00Z /library/oar/handle/123456789/127814 Title: Community care as a health care priority : a local perspective Abstract: Health care access is universal locally; however this does not necessarily resolve the issues encountered by individuals facing poverty, disability, degenerative conditions and their dependents. Poverty on its own presents challenges in coping with day to day activities. If this is coupled with chronic illness, disability and terminal illness, to name a few, the ramifications are significant, effecting the standard of living and quality of life of the individual and dependents. A large number of the most prevalent health problems are chronic in nature, leaving individuals requiring long-term care and support. The higher prevalence of chronic conditions such as dementia and diabetes, are leading to higher dependency levels resulting in an increased demand on care services. Community care, as part of health care, is something to which individuals are morally entitled as a necessary condition for a life worthy of human dignity. Adopting a philosophy of community care, based on social justice, can safeguard human dignity by empowering individuals, families and communities to be in a better position to maintain or restore their health and well-being. A socially inclusive community, engaged in addressing health, illness, and caring for the more vulnerable members, is one which moves from the institutionalisation paradigm, to person-centred care. The focus of which, being on the dignity of the individual and the value of the community. If the appropriate infrastructure does not currently exist to address these needs, then ethics should compel the creation of such a setup. Keeping in mind the principles of social justice namely equity, access, participation and quality, the core objectives for community care identified are to improve the quality of life for vulnerable and dependent individuals and their informal carers; and to deliver coordinated and seamless care, which strengthens the well-being of individuals and groups through empowerment. Empowering communities to promote health, prevent disease, treat illness and support individuals through care delivered within communities is important to achieve these objectives. As a result this dissertation examines community care within the local health care setting. Chapter one looks into community care as a concept as well as within the local scene. The first chapter also considers local health care and related demographics. Chapter two and three, address policy and ethical principles respectively. Policies, strategy documents and other communication from the World Health Organisation and European institutions, namely the European Commission, are given particular importance in chapter two. Due consideration is also given to local policy development and strategies. In particular the Health Vision 2000 as well as the strategy document released earlier this year, A National Health Systems Strategy (NHSS) 2014-2020. Ethical principles are considered in the third chapter, where the focus is twofold; Namely three consecutive reports titled National Report on Strategies for Social Protection and Social Inclusion, as well as the community care consultative exercise carried out locally in 2007. The fourth chapter follows by considering how community care can be enhanced locally. This is done by looking at the capability to be healthy concept adopted from the capability approach. [...] Description: M.A.BIOETHICS 2014-01-01T00:00:00Z /library/oar/handle/123456789/92828 Title: Conscientious objection in the Maltese pharmacy community Abstract: The last half of the twentieth century has seen the concept of conscientious objection move from the military context into other areas, notably becoming a permanent fixture in the medical landscape. The pharmaceutical service could not remain a spectator and remain silent as new technologies challenged important ideological, moral and religious convictions. Pharmacists in USA and Europe refused to dispense medicines that violated their conscience. This issue of conscientious objection arises because some pharmacists and clients have a plurality of competing conceptions of the good. The narratives that have evolved around conscientious objection have generally created tensions between the pharmacist who refuses to dispense certain medications that are perceived to violate one's conscience and the client who wants his/her legal prescription to be filled. Both sides invoke principles of human dignity, human rights, autonomy, human flourishing and tolerance in their discourse to strengthen their arguments. Some commentators have advanced positions that diminish the moral space of the pharmacist to zero; others suggest that the pharmacist must be free to define the scope of their professional obligations using their conscientious judgements. This dissertation hypothesizes a system that can potentially reduce the tension between these two extreme positions. General ethical theories and the internal morality of pharmacy give support to this compromise system that tries to find a delicate balance between the conscious absolutism view (full pharmacist's moral space) and the incompatibility thesis (zero pharmacist's moral space). This system recognizes the right of the pharmacist to refuse certain medicines that violate his/her moral integrity but this right is not absolute. There are certain ethical constraints that limit the exercise of conscience. This type of compromise system increases transparency and improves the pharmacist-client relationship. This type of system encourages a level of diversity in pharmaceutical care that would mirror the level found in society as a whole. This system has the potential to make the running of the pharmaceutical care run smoother in a pluralistic society. This compromise system is more sustainable and open to changing attitudes from future generations yet to join the debate of conscientious objection in the pharmaceutical care. In Malta, this debate has not yet started. The Maltese law offers no legal protection to the pharmacist who refuses to dispense certain medications while the Maltese code of pharmaceutical care offers the same pharmacist a very broad moral space. Sooner than later, the Maltese pharmacist has to join this debate of conscientious objection especially as more controversial issues, such as emergency contraception, enter the Maltese arena. Description: M.A.BIOETHICS 2014-01-01T00:00:00Z