Quality Pastoral Relationships in Healthcare Settings: Guidelines for Codes of Ethics

Abstract

“Pastoral caregiver–patient relationships” sections in ethical codes commonly provide a list of principles, proscriptions and prescriptions, with a focus on boundaries to safeguard the professional character of pastoral relationships and avert their harmful potential. The article promotes this code section’s coherency and comprehensiveness by respectively (i) drawing a framework in the context of which ethical guidance can be orderly presented, and (ii) focusing on the inter-personal core of pastoral relationships and their healing potential.