How about so-called Catholic universities?
Many of them have long ago ceased to
be truly Catholic, having dissident
theologians, atheistic professors, and
a culture of sexual permissiveness.
There are anti-life, anti-family, homosexualist
organizations on campus. Notre Dame
invited the pro-abortion Obama and removed
Catholic signs in order to accommodate
him. Notre Dame even oppressed the pro-lifers
on campus! What an insult to Our Lady
and a great harm to our Catholic faith.
When will the bishops act on these educational
institutions? They form the minds of
the young. Right in their formative
years, students are being exposed to
liberal/progressive thinking and even
the culture of death. The Church needs
to retake her Catholic schools, or failing
that, to declare that these schools
are no longer "Catholic."
In
a statement also publicized Tuesday,
the prelate noted that "measures
will be taken to avoid the impression
that the hospital is authentically Catholic,
such as the prohibition of celebrating
Mass at the hospital and the prohibition
of reserving the Blessed Sacrament in
the chapel."
He
explained that the hospital, and its
parent company, San Francisco-based
Catholic Healthcare West (CHW), have
violated the Ethical and Religious Directives
of the United States Conference of Catholic
Bishops for health care institutions.
Bishop
Omsted stated that he has been working
with the affiliated institutions for
the past seven years, since he took
over the leadership of that diocese.
"I
objected strongly to CHW's lack of compliance
with these directives, and told CHW
leaders that this constituted cooperation
in evil that must be corrected; because
if a healthcare entity wishes to call
itself Catholic (as in 'Catholic' Healthcare
West), it needs to adhere to the teachings
of the Church in all of its institutions,"
he stated.
"In
all my seven years as bishop of Phoenix,
I have continued to insist that this
scandalous situation
needed to change," the prelate
reported. "Sadly, over the course
of these years, CHW has chosen not to
comply."
Tragic
decision
The
bishop found out earlier this year that
an abortion had taken place at St. Joseph's
Hospital, in direct violation of Church
teaching.
He
stated: "It was thus my duty to
declare to the person responsible for
this tragic decision that allowed an
abortion at St. Joseph's, Sister Margaret
McBride, R.S.M., that she
had incurred an excommunication
by her formal consent to the direct
taking of the life of this baby. I did
this in a confidential manner, hoping
to spare her public embarrassment."
Bishop
Omsted noted that since that incident,
communication with the hospital's leadership
"only eroded my confidence about
their commitment to the Church's Ethical
and Religious Directives for
Healthcare."
Moreover,
over the past few weeks he learned of
various other violations taking place
at affiliated facilities, such as contraception
counseling and distribution, voluntary
sterilizations, and abortions when the
pregnancy was the result of rape or
incest.
Many
of these practices took place as part
of a government program called the Mercy
Care Plan, which brought CHW and the
hospital over $100 million in annual
revenue.
The
bishop reported that the administrator
who reported these procedures admitted
that the hospital and CHW "are
aware that this plan consists in formal
cooperation in evil actions which are
contrary to Church teaching."
Therefore,
the prelate decreed that in the Phoenix
Diocese, CHW "is not
committed to following the teaching
of the Catholic Church and therefore
this hospital cannot be considered Catholic."
Bishop
Omsted concluded: "For seven years
now, I have tried to work with CHW and
St. Joseph's, and I have hoped and prayed
that this day would not come, that this
decree would not be needed; however,
the faithful of
the diocese have a right to know whether
institutions of this importance are
indeed Catholic in identity and practice."
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On
the Net:
For
more information: http://www.arizonacatholic.org/