Reference code: GB 0033 CMA
Title: Catholic Medical Association Archive
Dates of creation: 1923-2020
Extent: 10 boxes
Held by: Durham University Library, Archives and Special Collections
Origination: Catholic Medical Association Archive
Language:
English
The Catholic Medical Association (CMA) was founded in 1911 as the Guild of of St Luke, Cosmas and Damian and later became the Guild of Catholic Doctors. Doctors and dentists were admitted as members until 2006 when the organisation decided that
it should become open to all practising Catholic healthcare professionals. Its aims include supporting ethical healthcare which fully respects the value and dignity of all patients, providing professional support in matters of consience by
influencing professional guidance and legal developments, and providing informed opinion concerning the implications of new developments and trends in modern health and social policy, e.g. embryo experimentation, embryonic stem cell research,
assisted conception, financial restraints and limitations in Health Care, transplantation ethics, Living Wills and Care Pathways, and active and passive euthanasia projects. From 1947, the CMA began publishing the
Catholic Medical Gazette, now the
Catholic Medical Quarterly. It is now published in print and online and is recognised as one of the leading Catholic healthcare journals.
Committee and AGM Minute books and papers, correspondence, papers on specific issues (IVF, contraception, euthanasia, gene therapy, and other ethical issues), membership papers, printed booklets, financial records, conference and symposia papers,
papers relating to the Joint Ethico-Medical Committee of the Catholic Union of Great Britain and the Guild of Catholic Doctors, and printed volumes of the
Catholic Medical Quarterly
Deposited by Dr Steve Brennan, CMA Honorary Secretary, March 2022. Accession no. Misc.2021/22:75.
In the basement of the Catholic Bishops' Conference offices in Eccleston Square, London
Generally open for consultation. GDPR restrictions on specific files noted.
Permission to make any published use of material from the collection must be sought in advance from the Sub-Librarian, Special Collections (e-mail PG.Library@durham.ac.uk) and, where appropriate, from the copyright owner. The Library will assist
where possible with identifying copyright owners, but responsibility for ensuring copyright clearance rests with the user of the material
Arranged by function.
Clean duplicates and routine correspondence removed.
No further accruals are expected.
Word processed box listing
“Do you care about healthcare? Catholic Medical Association (UK). Integrating faith & clinical practice for doctors, nurses and all the healthcare professions”. Leaflet (
available online)
Governance RecordsReference: CMA/ACMA/A1 [?1930] - 2002
Printed constitutions, rules and standing orders
[?1930], 1957, 1963, 1979 and 2002
5 items
CMA/A2 1946 - 2020
AGMs and printed annual reports:
File 1: 1946 - 1958
File 2: 1960 - 1964 (includes council minutes)
File 3: 1965 - 1989
File 4: 1990 - 1999
File 5: 2000 - 2009
File 6: 2010 - 2020
6 files
CMA/A3 1932 - 2017
Council papers, including agendas, minutes, and associated reports. Also includes General Purposes Committee minutes.
File 1: 11 February 1932 - 19 January 1947
File 2: 9 September 1947 - 10 November 1959
File 3: 2 April 1967 - 15 October 1972
File 4: 13 January 1973 - 9 October 1978
File 5: 14 January 1979 - 11 December 1983
File 6: 15 January 1984 - 14 December 1986
File 7: 27 June 1987 - 4 October 1992
File 8: 23 January 1993 - 22 September 1996
File 9: 18 January 1997 - 14 October 2001
File 10: 20 January 2002 - 19 September 2009
File 11: 23 January 2010 - 5 November 2017
11 files
CMA/A4
Financial records
CMA/A4/1 1978 - 2008
Cash books:
Volume 1: 1 October 1978 - 30 September 1979
Volume 2: 1 October 1985 - 30 September 1986
Volume 3: 1 October 1990 - 30 September 1991
Volume 4: 1 October 1991 - 30 September 1992
Volume 5: 1 October 1998 - 30 September 1999
Volume 6: 1 October 2007 - 30 September 2008
6 volumes
CMA/A4/2 1973 - 2010
Annual statements of accounts
Missing: 1991
1 file
CMA/A5
Committees and Groups
CMA/A5/1 14 October 1972 - 30 June 2007
The Ethical Committee was established in 1972 to consider ethical questions affecting Catholic doctors, occasionally diverging into a Northern and Southern group. A separate Joint Medical and Ethical Committee, a partnership between the CMA and
the Catholic Union, was also set up in 1981.
Papers of the Ethical Committee and the Joint Medical and Ethical Committee, including correspondence, position papers, minutes of meetings, and associated reports
File 1: 14 October 1972 - 23 November 1976
File 2: 27 January 1977 - 17 November 1983
File 3: 19 July 1984 - 26 July 1993
File 4: 29 January 1994 - 8 December 1996
File 5: 1 February 1997 - 15 November 2000
File 6: 13 January 2001 - 30 June 2007
6 files
CMA/A5/2 18 April 1966 - 28 October 2006
The Parliamenary Standing Committee was established in April 1966 with the purpose of considering matters to be brought before Parliament, or the various ministeries, affecting the practice of medicine in the UK, likely to be relevant to Catholic
interests. The papers include correspondence, position papers, minutes of meetings, and associated reports
File 1: 18 April 1966 - 12 November 1977
File 2: 14 January 1978 - 15 November 1989
File 3: 13 January 1990 - 22 December 1993
File 4: 4 January 1994 - 28 October 2006
4 files
CMA/A5/3 1968 - 1969
The Euthanasia Study Group was set up in July 1968 to consider and discuss various legislative proposals, parliamentary papers, historical, medical and psychiatric aspects, pertaining to the question of euthanasia, in an attempt to counteract the
activities of pro-Euthanasia groups in parliament. The papers consist mostly of copies of articles and proposed chapters for publication
1 file
CMA/A5/4 1989 - 1993
The Catholics in Practice Committee was established in 1985 “to investigate the feasibility of starting private general practices for doctors who wish to retain their freedom to practise according to orthodox Catholic
principles”, including documenting the problems of discrimination and intimidation encountered by Catholic doctors in training, and investigate the legal and financial positions of private Catholic general practices. The papers of include
minutes of meetings and a guide on abortion
1 file
CMA/A6 1947 - 2007
Lists of members and printed membership directories
File 1: 1947 - 1993
File 2: 1995 - 2007
2 files
CMA/A7
Regional Branch Papers
CMA/A7/1 12 October 1949 - 2011
Papers of regional branches including letters to the national branch, mostly on administrative matters, event programmes, and menus
Regional branches include Poole and Bournemouth; Preston; Newport; Cardiff; Westminster; Sheffield; Manchester; Kent; and Worcestershire
1 file
CMA/A7/2/1-3 1935 - 1997
Minute books of regional branch council meetings and AGMs
3 volumes
CMA/A7/2/1 3 November 1935 - 22 August 1997
East Anglian Branch
1 volume
CMA/A7/2/2 9 January 1938 - 10 December 1987
Reading/Thames Valley Branch
1 volume
CMA/A7/2/3 11 March 1951 - 9 May 1971
Preston Branch
1 volume
CMA/A8 June 1971 - 2 January 1998
Internal reviews of the CMA and discussions on its future direction and strategy
1 file
CampaignsReference: CMA/BCMA/B1 29 March 1965 - 27 October 2007
Papers relating to abortion, including the campaign against the 1967 Abortion Act and subsequent legislative amendments, including newspaper cuttings, correspondence with MPs and the Catholic hierarchy, position papers, and transcripts of
speeches
File 1: 25 March 1965 - 2 April 1967
File 2: 1968 - 27 October 2007
2 files
CMA/B2 16 October 1965 - 2 August 1987
Papers relating to campaigns against euthanasia, including summaries of debates in Parliament, articles, newspaper cuttings, and correspondence
File 1: 16 October 1965 - 2 August 1987
File 2: 14 May 1988 - July 2015
CMA/B3 29 November 1972 - [?1987]
Papers relating to the campaign against in vitro fertilisation, particularly through the work of the Warnock Committee, including correspondence, press releases, and submission papers
1 file
CMA/B4 1968 - 1969
Papers, mostly transcripts of talks and articles, on the subject of transplant surgery ( “Spare-Part Surgery”
1 file
CMA/B5 1981
Papers relating to a CMA questionnaire on medical ethics, including reports on the findings
1 file
CMA/B6 June 1989
Papers responding to a Select Committee on Murder and Life Imprisonment, including a submission paper
1 file
CMA/B7 31 January 1997 - 12 October 1998
Papers relating to the Hospital of St John and St Elizabeth in London and the views of Catholic doctors on its future strategy
1 file
CMA/B8 December 1985 - March 1986
Correspondence relating to attendance at Mass by Catholic nurses during their shifts
1 file
CMA/B9 11 February 1949
Correspondence from the Vatican Secretary of State and the Foreign Office on the protest against the arrest of Cardinal Mindszenty in Hungary
2 letters
EventsReference: CMA/CCMA/C1 30 May 1964 - 22 April 2017
Papers of the CMA Annual Symposium, including programmes, delegate lists, Mass liturgies, and dinner menus
1 file
CMA/C2 March 1950 - April 1998
Transcripts and extracts of talks, mostly presented at the CMA Annual Symposium
Includes two cassette tapes
1 file & 2 casette tapes
CMA/C3 7 August 1983 - 10 October 1983
Correspondence relating to the controversy surrounding an invitation (subsequently withdrawn) to Victoria Gillick to speak at the 1983 CMA Annual Symposium
1 file
CMA/C4 1962
Papers relating to the Tenth International Congress of Catholic Doctors, organised by the Guild of St Luke SS. Cosmas & Damien:
File 1: Programmes, dinner menus, invitations, correspondence
File 2: Transcripts of papers presented
Volume: Attendance book, including date, name, and address
2 files & 1 volume
Links with external organisationsReference: CMA/DCMA/D1 1967 - 1970
Catholic Marriage Advisory Council
1 file
CMA/D2 1949 - 2010
Fédération Internationale des Associations Médicales Catholiques/International Federation of Catholic Medical Associations (FIAMC)
1 file
CMA/D3 1969 - 1983
National Council for the Lay Apostolate
1 file
CMA/D4 1973 - 1984
National Family Planning
1 file
PublicityReference: CMA/ECMA/E1 1986 - 2017
Cuttings from a variety of UK newspapers (Catholic and secular), with draft letters/articles for editors, mostly on CMA causes including abortion, drugs, contraception etc, as well as promotional activity
1 file
CMA/E2 1983 - [2000]
CMA leaflets
1 file
CMA/E3 April 2019
Preliminary draft of a history by Ian Jessiman of the Guild of Catholic Doctors/CMA
1 article
