Canadian Catholic Health Care at the Nexus of Multiple Legal Regimes

Bibliographic Data

ID7149162
AuthorsAmélie Barras (0000-0003-2226-9126, York University, corresponding author), Andrea Paras (0000-0002-3170-8234, University of Guelph)
Year2025
Volume40
Issue2
Pages290-310
Publication date2025-08-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueCanadian Journal of Law and Society / Revue Canadienne Droit et Société (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0829-3201 • E-ISSN: 1911-0227
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/cls.2025.6
OpenAlexW4412922358
LanguageEN
References cited15

What does it mean to be a public Catholic institution in Canada? How does this Catholic identity evolve with the secularisation and diversification of society, and with the rising awareness of the complicated legacy of Catholicism and colonisation in Canada? This article explores those questions drawing on document analysis and interviews with staff working in Catholic health care. Taking a legal pluralist approach, it documents how Catholic health-care institutions navigate between transnational canon laws and ethics, and human rights law. Catholic health care is situated in a web of national and transnational legal regimes. We argue that this navigation takes different forms to adapt to societal changes, such as the authorization of Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD). This article speaks directly to how Christianity continues to play a subtle, but still constant presence in Canadian Catholic hospitals, and debunks tropes that construct relationships between state and religion as one of clear separation

Health care · Law and economics · Political science · Sociology · American Constitutional Law and Politics · Computer Science · Law · Religion and Society Interactions · Religion, Society, and Development

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