Please join us for our annual Catholic Professionals Conference and Mini-Retreat: Living by the Light at the Our Lady of Martyrs Shrine in Auriesville, NY. Our conference theme is Physician Assisted Suicide and Finding Meaning in the Midst of Suffering.
The morning professional program will focus on medical, ethical, and legal aspects of physician assisted suicide and its alternatives. The afternoon mini-retreat will address the question of the meaning of human suffering. The day will close with opportunities for Eucharistic Adoration, Confession, and Mass. Come early or stay late to stroll the peaceful, inspirational grounds!
When: June 22nd, 8:30am - 5:00pm
Where: Our Lady of Martyrs Shrine, 136 Shrine Rd., Fultonville, NY 12072
In the face of suffering, particularly at the end of life, how should we respond? What are the ethical and legal implications for those wrestling with decisions prompted by suffering? What are the medical options? This year’s Catholic Professionals Conference includes a morning program on the topic from medical, ethical and legal perspectives.
Matthew Lynch MD begins with "'O true apothecary, thy drugs are quick!' Doctor Prescribed Suicide". Fr. Tadeus Pacholczyk, PhD will follow with "First Do No Harm: Ethics at the End of Life" and attorney Kristen Curran JD with "Death and Dignity in the Law - New York and National Considerations". The morning will close with a discussion about "Responding to Suffering at the End of Life" by Tom Carroll MD, a palliative care physician.
The New York CLE (1 hour) application is pending; 5 hours of CME is approved and available!
Finding meaning in suffering has implications for those who suffer, as well as those who try to respond to that suffering including family and care givers alike. This year’s Catholic Professionals Conference begins with a panel discussion to wrap up questions from the morning presentations. Fr. Thomas Fallati, JD will then speak on "Finding Meaning in Human Suffering."
Location: Visitors Center
"'O true apothecary, thy drugs are quick!' Doctor Prescribed Suicide"with Matthew Lynch, MD, OP
"First Do No Harm: Ethics at the End of Life"with Rev. Tadeus Pacholczyk, PhD
"Death and Dignity in the Law: New York and National Considerations "with Kristen Curran, JD
"Responding to Suffering at the End of Life"with Thomas Carroll, MD
All speakers
"Finding Meaning in Human Suffering"with Fr. Tom Fallati, JD
Location: Colosseum
Dr. Thomas Carroll is an Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Rochester. He received his M.D. and Ph.D. from the University of Connecticut and then completed his internal medicine training at the University of Rochester where he subsequently served as Chief Resident and completed the fellowship program in Hospice and Palliative Medicine. Dr. Carroll practices both general internal medicine and palliative care in the office and hospital settings. He also directs the Advanced Communication Training (ACT) Program (https://act-ur.com/), which seeks to improve patient care by supporting communication excellence among individual clinicians and clinical teams. His interests include communication training, medical education at all stages of training, and Catholic bioethics.
Kristen Curran, JD is the Director of Government Relations for the New York State Catholic Conference, which represents the Bishops of New York in public policy matters. Born and raised in Albany, Ms. Curran is a product of Albany Catholic schools and a graduate of Siena College, where she received her Bachelor of Science degree. An attorney admitted to practice in the Third Department of New York State, Ms. Curran received her Juris Doctor degree from Albany Law School. She has been a lobbyist for twelve years and has extensive experience with organized labor and all levels of government. Kristen lives in Albany with her husband, James, and their children, Colleen, Clare, and Jack. They are parishioners of St. Pius X Church in Loudonville.
As a seminarian of the Diocese of Albany, Tom Fallati is on a new path in life after more than twenty-five years practicing law. Tom is a graduate of Union College and Harvard Law School. He practiced law both in New York City and Albany. From 2002-05, he served as a federal prosecutor with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, working in that office’s Business and Securities Fraud unit. Tom has served for several years as a board member of the Catholic Lawyers Guild of the Diocese of Albany and of the Friends of Our Lady of Martyrs Shrine, Inc. Tom previously served as parish council president and in various parish ministries at his home parish, St. Pius X Church in Loudonville. Tom was ordained a deacon by Bishop Edward B. Scharfenberger on November 18, 2023, and he will be ordained to the priesthood on May 18, 2024.
Dr. Matthew Lynch, MD, OP is a perpetually professed member of the Lay Fraternities of St. Dominic. He graduated magna cum laude from University of Rochester with a BS in microbiology in 1999 and an MD in 2005. He then completed a residency in Neurology at University of Cincinnati and fellowship in Neurophysiology at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in 2010. He now practices outpatient neurology in Fredericksburg, VA.
Fr. Pacholczyk currently serves as Senior Ethicist at the National Catholic Bioethics Center. A priest of the Diocese of Fall River, Massachusetts, he has given several hundred presentations and participated in debates and roundtables on contemporary medical ethics and bioethics throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe. He has taught bioethics at St. John’s Seminary in Boston; Pope St. John XXIII Seminary in Weston, Massachusetts; Holy Apostles College and Seminary in Cromwell, Connecticut; St. Bernard’s School of Ministry and Theology in Rochester, New York; Kenrick-Glennon Seminary in St. Louis; St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Philadelphia; and The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC.
Catholic Medical Association - Albany Guild
Catholic Medical Association - Finger Lakes Guild
Catholic Lawyers Guild of the Diocese of Albany
St. Bernard's School of Theology and Ministry
A Room Block has been reserved at the Wyndham Microtel Inn Amsterdam, located at: 1393 NY-5S, Amsterdam, NY 12010.
Reservations may be made online here for $179/night (June 21st & 22nd) under the reservation "AlbanyCMA."
The conference and mini-retreat may be attended in its entirety (full day), or partially (the afternoon sessions). Registration at the door is $120.
Please enter your registration details below! Any questions can be directed to either Angela Maupin Kristan, MD, at [email protected], or Tom Venditti, PA, at [email protected].
This includes the two afternoon sessions, Adoration, Confession, and Mass
Attorneys earning less than $50,000 per year may pay only the half-day rate
