Moral Injury: When Our Pain Blocks God’s Joy

Course Summary

This course will introduce participants to the topic of moral injury, its potential origins, including from war or other highly stressful professions or situations, and ways to help people suffering from it. Through a focus on how Christian faith and Catholic religious practice can support and encourage those affected by moral injury, participants will review Church teaching on military service, war, formation of conscience, and forgiveness and reconciliation. By the end of the course, participants will have acquired a working knowledge of moral injury and how it is distinct from and overlaps with posttraumatic stress (PTS/PTSD) and have information on resources for further education and raising awareness of moral injury at the parish level.

Successful completion of this course earns 2.5 CEU's.

General Course Objectives

• Understand moral injury and its causes
• Differentiate between moral injury and PTS (posttraumatic stress)
• Identify ways the faith community can assist someone with moral injury toward addressing his or her pain and finding reconciliation, forgiveness, and renewal of purpose/service to others
• Identify resources that can help parishes minister to and with persons suffering from moral injury
• Understand the components of pain that can affect someone with moral injury and some of the ways others can minister with persons suffering from moral injury-related, acute pain

Course Materials

• Required Book: Maureen Pratt Beyond Pain: Job, Jesus, and Joy Twenty-Third Publications, 2010 ISBN: 1585957860; ISBN-13: 978-1585957866
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Course Structure and Highlights

• Week 1: “The Sacred Wound”
  • Define “moral injury” “posttraumatic stress,” and “posttraumatic stress disorder”
  • Understand what is considered a “trauma,” who might suffer from moral injury, and when the symptoms or effects of moral injury may arise
  • Learn how treatment for moral injury differs from that for PTS/PTSD
• Week 2: Military Culture and Moral Conscience
  • Articulate Catholic teaching war, peace, and military service
  • Hone an awareness of the challenges someone who has served in the military who comes home might face, including prejudice and rejection or lack of understanding from others.
  • Understand some of the components of pain that can cause isolation in someone suffering from moral injury and how a faith community might minister with and to that person
• Week 3: The Faces of Moral Injury
  • To understand moral injury as it affects real lives
  • To articulate examples of persons who have experienced moral injury
  • To learn about some of the stages of coping with moral injury and what might be effect in working toward healing the rift between the sufferer and God
• Week 4: The Youth Factor and Beyond the Military
  • To articulate how moral injury can occur in other professions and activities besides military service
  • To review Church teaching on conscientious objection
  • To understand the unique challenges of youth in high-stress professions o learn some specific actions that can help youth prepare for high-stress professions, including the military
• Week 5: Toward Healing Moral Injury: People in Action
  • Know the importance of reconciliation, forgiveness, and service in the process of healing from moral injury
  • Articulate Church teaching on penance and forgiveness
  • Understand the role that military and other chaplains, as well as other uniquely qualified, might play in the process of healing from moral injury

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