Exploring Our Divergence and Convergence

In the fall of 2015, a small group of Catholics who serve in leadership roles met in Washington, DC to begin a conversation about diverse Catholic perspectives on palliative care and end-of-life decision-making in the U.S. A thoughtful, deliberative process, the Pathways to Convergence report emerged to explore both diverging and converging views of Catholics about advance care planning, palliative care, and health care decisions within the Catholic Church and in the public square. This 2017 document summarizes those deliberations and the resulting proposals for further exploration. The primary purpose of this document is to serve as a record for a dialogue that was born out of the conviction that a clearer presentation of Catholic understanding regarding palliative care and end-of-life decision-making was possible.