A priest in the diocese has written a book that covers an important topic in today’s rapidly changing society.
Father Emmanuel Adu Addai, the parochial vicar at Worthington St. Michael Church and the pastor for the Catholic Ghanaian community in Columbus at St. Matthias Church, joined the ranks of published authors last year with his book, Medical Ethics: A Physician’s Guide to Clinical Medicine.
The book, which came to fruition through his postgraduate work in philosophy and ethics, focuses on doctor-patient relationships in a medical environment. While completing his Ph.D. in 2021, he spent time in a clinical setting, mainly at Mount Carmel East Hospital in Columbus, observing, assisting and gathering material for the book.
“I tried to investigate the relationship between the moral and ethical practices of the physician and the success of doctor-patient relationships and patient satisfaction,” he said. “I tried to use the scientific method to do that.
“My conclusion was that the physician may not always be able to adhere to every particular ethical principle or practice in every situation. But it is imperative for the physician to inculcate some values and virtues of a good doctor, like honesty, objectivity, respect and confidentiality.”
Father Addai’s study of medical ethics originated in his home diocese in Ghana, west Africa, where the local bishop asks priests to specialize in a discipline outside of their ecclesiastical duties. Some priests train to become medical doctors, others pursue architecture or civil law.
Father Addai always has enjoyed philosophy, and his foray into medical ethics emerged from that interest and also satisfied a need in his diocese in Ghana.
After Father Addai was ordained, he spent the first few years of his priesthood teaching economics and Christian studies and serving as an administrator in Catholic and public schools before Archbishop Gabriel Justice Yaw Anokye approached him about studying medical ethics and bioethics.
When Father Addai was a headmaster at a Catholic school, he had encountered a boy who was isolated because of the stigma and concerns of others that his mother had died of HIV.
“I was told you have to be careful about what you say to the child,” Father Addai said. “It was very sad news. So that’s where I developed an interest in the issue, and when my archbishop told me he wanted me to study medical ethics, my mind went to that child. God knew what He wanted me to do, and this confirmed it.”
Father Addai was sent to the United States to study moral theology and bioethics at Boston College, and he earned a master’s in theology and a licentiate of sacred theology in 2016.
He was set to pursue a Ph.D. in Canada when his archbishop called and said he needed Father Addai to go to Ohio to serve the Ghanaian community in Columbus. “I was already admitted, and I suggested that he get another priest to come from Ghana, but there are immigration issues and it would take a while,” he said. So he quickly pivoted and headed for Columbus.
“I’ve been called to work in the vineyard, and that is my first duty,” Father Addai said. “So I had to obey him. But the archbishop still wanted me to pursue my Ph.D.”
Father Addai spent his first months in the diocese at St. Mary, Mother of God Church in the German Village area of Columbus and then moved to Westerville St. Paul Church while ministering to Ghanaian Catholics who gather weekly for Sunday Mass at St. Anthony Church.
In 2017, he enrolled in a doctoral program in medical ethics at Loyola University in Chicago. For a year and a half, he commuted to the Windy City during the week for classes and seminars.
Because he was serving in Columbus as a priest, an arrangement was worked out to do his practicum and field work locally at Mount Carmel East. He was mentored by Amy VanDyke, a system ethicist for Mount Carmel.
The book emerged from his research and experiences in the clinical environment.
“The relationship between physicians and patients in my country is bad,” he said. “It’s so bad that the patients suffer sometimes at the expense of the physicians. There’s so much respect for the physician there that the patients often find it difficult to ask questions. Sometimes, when you question them (doctors) about treatment, they don’t take it kindly.
“So I looked at the history of medical ethics, and I tried to apply the concepts and principles of ethics to morality in clinical health-care settings.”
Included in the book are several studies of actual cases in which medical ethics principles are applied, examining how a doctor handled a situation ethically and legally.
The concepts also can be applied to priests and their work in medical settings. In instances when the clergy or pastoral associate ministers to the severely ill or dying, moral and ethical questions often arise.
“When discussing these issues, we need to be careful not to go against the teachings of the Church,” Father Addai said. “When I finished school, a lot of people came to me in the parish and I had one-on-one interaction with them, helping them to resolve issues with a doctor and their personal issues concerning their sickness.”
Father Addai hopes that the book, which is available online through Amazon and other outlets, will serve as a resource for medical professionals. Moreover, he wants to share his knowledge in the diocese and through teaching.
He presented a copy of his book to Bishop Robert Brennan while he was still in Columbus and has also reached out to the Pontifical College Josephinum.
“I want to be used more,” he said. “I feel like I’m underutilized, and I don’t know what to do now. Anywhere my service is needed I’ll be glad to serve.”
In the meantime, his pastoral duties in the diocese at St. Michael and with the Ghanaians at St. Anthony keep him busy.
About 300 families with ties to Ghana live in the Columbus area, he said. Some of them attend the Sunday afternoon Ghanaian Mass at St. Matthias.
The humble priest relates well with the people from his native country, where he was given the Catholic faith by a grandmother, Mary Asamtewaah.
“Her whole life was about God and the church,” he said. “We would not wake up without going to church.”
Father Addai tagged along with her every time she went to their parish, St. Agnes Catholic Church in Maase Offinso, whether it was praying with the rosary group or accompanying her to choir practice.
“She couldn’t leave me home, and I would have to go with her,” he said. “I would never miss Sunday school, and so my life was about the church.
“I so much loved the church, and I loved the priests. And it was like, ‘I want to be like this. I want to be a priest.’”
When he entered the minor seminary in Kumasi, his grandmother asked whether he could be successful. She knew that studying for the priesthood is not easy.
“I remember telling her it will be by God’s grace and not my strength,” he said. “She said, ‘I needed to hear this from you because you have to realize that we are not going to do it. God will lead you. But don’t disgrace me, don’t disgrace the family.’
“I remember that she prayed that God would see me through to become a good priest. Unfortunately, as I entered seminary, my grandmother died. She gave me the faith, she nurtured me, and God prepared me through her.”
