Healthcare Chaplaincy: An Unfolding Narrative

Margaret Naughton PhD is a Healthcare Chaplain at University Hospital Kerry and has worked as a chaplain for eleven years. She has a PhD in Theology and Religious Studies from Mary Immaculate College Limerick. She is also associate CPE Supervisor, a role which she hopes to integrate into her present work as a chaplain. She has Bachelors’ Degrees in English, History and Theology and two Masters Degrees – one in English the other in History. She has published extensively in the areas of grief, loss, illness, compassionate care and reflective practice. She reads widely, loves travelling and has a curious mind.

Contents: From «Cinderella Ministry» to Professional Paradigms – Healthcare Chaplaincy – Humble Beginnings – Theological Reflection – Opening the Heart to the Possibility of Discernment – Research Findings: The Ministry of Healthcare Chaplaincy in the Twenty- First Century – First Person Narrative – Healthcare Chaplaincy in Contemporary Ireland – Culture and Context – Theological Tradition – Finding Meaning in the Face of Human Suffering – Constructing a Christian Theology of Suffering – Fruits of the Dialogue – Experience, Culture and Tradition – The Critical Conversation – Fruits of the Dialogue – Experience, Culture and Tradition – the Critical Conversation Continues – Pastoral Response – Insight and Transformation.