Dan Haverty knows how to give until it hurts. Literally.

This past spring, the 50-year-old grandfather of two donated two-thirds of his liver to Sacramento Bishop William Weigand.

As he nears the end of his convalescence, Haverty is already back to work as the assistant chief of Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District.

“I work in administration, so I'm not expected to be out climbing ladders, pulling the hose lines or bringing someone out of a building on my shoulders,” he says. “I feel 100%.”

Although his family was concerned at first, Haverty says he knew instinctively more than a year before the operation that he would be the chosen donor.

“It was still kind of a distant possibility at that point,” he explains. “Even then, when we began the process, I believed in my heart and soul that I would be selected to be the donor and I still felt this was something I was called to do for him.”

Haverty's discernment may have been spot-on.

While the fact is not widely known or reported, organ donation is warmly encouraged by the Catholic Church. Not everyone is called to be a living donor like Haverty, but all are encouraged to donate their organs after death.

Pope Benedict XVI is a registered organ donor, and Pope John Paul II called organ transplantation a way to nurture the culture of life.

“Transplants are a great step forward in science's service of man, and not a few people today owe their lives to an organ transplant,” he said in his address at the 18th Transplant Society International Congress in 2000. “Increasingly, the technique of transplants has proven to be a valid means of attaining the primary goal of all medicine — the service of human life.”

Dr. Francis Delmonico has heard that exhortation loud and clear.

Delmonico is the medical director of the New England Organ Bank and president-elect of the United Network for Organ Sharing, a Virginia-based nonprofit organization that sets policy and runs the nation's organ transplant system.

“Organ donation is part of being Catholic,” he says. “It's what we're all about as Christians.

“If there ever was a pro-life statement, it's organ donation,” the physician continues. “The great delight of my whole personal life is to be in the midst of organ transplantation because it restores life. It brings new life in instances of a specific organ failure. You can replace that organ and return an individual to well-bring. That is a promotion and validation of life.”

Integrity Intact

As medical technology has advanced, Catholic teaching on organ transplantation has developed. The Church has always been concerned about organ donors’ well-being, says Dr. John Haas, president of the National Catholic Bioethics Center.

“When the idea of living donations first arose, there was initial resistance to it because of the principle of integrity,” he explains. “Then theologians reflected on this more and said it could be permitted in grave situations if functional integrity were preserved.

“One could not donate a cornea out of one's eyes because that would severely diminish one's functional integrity,” adds Haas. “But one could give a kidney; one could give part of a lung and part of a liver.”

Most people can function normally with one kidney. Liver donors will have the remaining lobe of their liver regenerate and take over the function of the two lobes they donate.

The Church views organ donation as an act of charity, fraternal love and self-sacrifice, according to the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Facilities.

“The transplantation of organs from living donors is morally permissible when the anticipated benefit to the recipient is proportionate to the harm done to the donor, provided that the loss of such organ(s) does not deprive the donor of life itself nor of the functional integrity of his body,” the directives say.

Bishop Weigand was diagnosed with liver disease 24 years ago. The disease caused fibrous tissue to block the bile ducts to his liver. That caused scarring, known as primary sclerosis cholangitis, which affects liver function. Primary sclerosis cholangitis can lead to liver cirrhosis and failure. In cases that have progressed, the only treatment is a liver transplant.

The bishop was one of thousands of Americans awaiting transplants. According the United Network for Organ Sharing, 110 people are added to the nation's organ transplant waiting list each day — one every 13 minutes.

About 70 people receive transplants every day from either a living or deceased donor, and more than 87,000 people are on the nation's organ transplant waiting list. Almost 700 of them are 5 years old or younger.

Love That Acts

Knowing the great need for donors, John Paul II called on parents to be examples to their children.

“There is a need to instill in people's hearts, especially in the hearts of the young, a genuine and deep appreciation of the need for brotherly love, a love that can find expression in the decision to become an organ donor,” he said.

Interested donors should talk to their primary care physician or contact a transplant center. Most states also include organ donation information with driver's license registrations. The United Network for Organ Sharing website — unos.org — also has information for people interested in becoming organ donors.

Haverty says donating a portion of his liver has had some unexpected benefits.

“It has enhanced my faith and allowed me to grow closer to the Lord in a number of ways,” he says. “Hour by hour, I see things slightly different than I did before. Things are not so urgent in my life, so I tend to be a little more reflective. Those reflections are often on the human condition and relationship with the Lord and the Lord's intervention in our daily lives. I feel much closer to the Church.”

Meanwhile, Haverty has formed a close, brotherly bond with Bishop Weigand, and he and his wife Terry have received overwhelming support from the clergy and laity throughout the diocese.

“School children would send me packets of cards that they wrote,” says Haverty. “One of the packets was a bouquet of prayers. The children had decorated their cards, painted them, used crayons and other artwork to make their cards look like flowers. Each card was signed by the child with the number of prayers they said on our behalf. It was very moving for us.”

As was Haverty's generous, life-giving act for Bishop Weigand.

Patrick Novecosky is based in Naples, Florida.