Events

As part of MCC's core mission, we educate Catholics and the public about the ethical and moral framework that should be applied to public policy choices. We offer a variety of educational opportunities and events throughout the year.

If you want an MCC staff member to speak at your event, please fill out our Speaker Request Form.

  • Righteous Relief: How the Church Answers Pain

    Tuesday, September 01, 2026 at 09:00 AM · Church of St. Paul - Mendota in Mendota, MN


    An Integrated Vision of the Human Person and Body and Soul

    Pain and suffering are often treated solely with pharmacological approaches that presuppose that the human person is merely a material being, and that the body is a kind of machine.  By contrast, the Catholic approach to pain and suffering does not rely solely on spiritual remedies, but instead follows an integrated vision of the human person as body and soul. 

    In a culture that elevates avoiding pain and suffering as its highest value, sometimes at the expense of other goods, how can Catholic healthcare professionals, institutions, and ministers, promote true flourishing rooted in the nature and authentic dignity of the human person? 

    Our speakers and panelists will reflect on how Catholic healthcare can best address mental health challenges, emotional pain, and physical suffering while grounding those reflections in the reality of our faith and the call to follow the suffering servant, Jesus Christ, to the foot of the Cross. 

    When: September 1, 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
    Where: St. Peter's Catholic Church, Mendota Heights, MN
    Investment: $25
    Lunch, drinks, and snacks will be provided.

    REGISTER HERE

    Our All-Star Speaker Lineup

    Aaron Kheriaty, MD

    Keynote Speaker

    Aaron Kheriaty, MD, is the Director of the Bioethics, Technology, and Human Flourishing Program at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. A physician specializing in psychiatry, he has published over one hundred articles and five books, including most recently, Making the Cut: How to Heal Modern Medicine. For many years he was Professor of Psychiatry at the University of California Irvine School of Medicine and Director of the Medical Ethics Program at UCI Health, where he chaired the ethics committee. Dr. Kheriaty has published articles in the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Newsweek, The Federalist, Compact, Tablet, The Free Press, and First Things. On matters of public policy and healthcare he has testified before the United States Senate and the California Senate. Dr. Kheriaty was a plaintiff in the successful landmark free speech case Missouri v. Biden, and for his work challenging government censorship the journalist Matt Taibbi called him “the most ambitious theorist of the censorship-industrial age.”

    Anthony Isacco, PhD

    Mental Health Panel Moderator

    Anthony Isacco, PhD, is program director, professor, and head of clinical research in the clinical psychology program at Saint Mary's University of Minnesota. He is a licensed psychologist with a practice focused on helping clergy, seminarians, and women religious live healthy, holy, and happy lives in their vocations.  Dr. Isacco has published and presented widely on the psychology of men and masculinity, fatherhood, clergy health, psychological assessment, and religious/spiritual integration in psychology.

Past Events