Daniel Daly leads new CHA Theology and Ethics Center

Associate Professor of Moral Theology Daniel Daly of the Clough School of Theology and Ministry at Boston College is the inaugural executive director of the Catholic Health Association of the United States (CHA) Theology and Ethics Center, which will address pressing issues in Catholic healthcare ethics by drawing on the best of the theological and moral tradition. The new center will respond to the needs of the Catholic healthcare ministry by engaging with medical practitioners, healthcare leaders, and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Daly will remain a member of the CSTM faculty during his tenure with CHA, though his teaching schedule and other duties will be adjusted to accommodate this new role, which began this month.

“I’m excited to found the Center," said Daly, who earned a Ph.D. in theological ethics from BC. "It offers a different way to live my vocation as a theologian and ethicist. In five years I’d like the Center to be the leading voice in Catholic healthcare ethics. I hope it’s a place that bishops, hospital CEOs, administrators, and ethicists turn to for guidance in policymaking.

"I’m equally excited to remain on the BC faculty," he continued. "I see this as a win-win. I’ll be able to leverage my work at the Center for the benefit of BC students." 

Daly is an experienced clinical medical ethicist who has served on the ethics committees of the Catholic Medical Center and the Elliot Hospital in Manchester, NH. He was a member of CHA’s Theology and Ethics Committee (now Advisory Council) from 2015–2021. He also has contributed articles to Health Progress, CHA’s journal.

A leading scholar of medical ethics, Daly has written peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters on ethics and theology and delivered presentations at numerous conferences. He is a member of the Catholic Theological Society of America, Society of Christian Ethics, and Catholic Theological Ethics in the World Church initiative.

His book, The Structures of Virtue and Vice, published in 2021 by Georgetown University Press, offered a new ethics for understanding the social forces that shape moral character. The volume was awarded a First Place Catholic Media Association Book Award in the category of Theological and Philosophical Studies.

“This appointment is not only a great recognition of Dan’s standing in the field of Catholic medical ethics, but represents a mutually beneficial arrangement for CHA and the CSTM,” said CSTM Dean Michael McCarthy, S.J. “It will contribute greatly to the mission of the Church in the crucial and complex field of Catholic healthcare.”

Founded in 1915, CHA advances the Catholic health ministry of the U.S. in caring for people and communities. Comprised of more than 600 hospitals and 1,600 long-term care and other health facilities in all 50 states, the Catholic health ministry is the largest group of nonprofit healthcare providers in the nation.