A few minutes ago I received the press release below, not yet posted at the Catholic Action League web site.
I had to read it several times because I kept saying to myself, “It can’t be so!”
But, sadly, it is.
Caritas Christi, a network of six hospitals owned by Archdiocese of Boston, will soon acquire Landmark Medical Center. Landmark will continue to operate as a secular hospital, meaning abortions and sterilizations will be performed there.
Caritas Christi itself is scheduled to be acquired by Cerebus Capital Management, but that sale has not yet been approved by the Holy See and various oversight agencies.
Cardinal O’Malley has given assurances that Caritas Christi, long funded by the Catholics of Boston will remain Catholic. If the Landmark sale goes through, a “Catholic” hospital network will be funding abortion and sterilization.
Surely Cardinal O’Malley would not let that happen! That’s not even a close call by anyone’s standards.
Meanwhile, the Boston Catholic Insider — though banned inside Archdiocesan offices — keeps publishing detailed, and troubling, information on the infrastructure of the Boston Archdiocese.
TUESDAY, AUGUST 31, 2010
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: C. J. DOYLE
(781) 251-9739
CARITAS CHRISTI REVERSES DECISION
ON RELIGIOUS CHARACTER OF LANDMARK HOSPITAL
On August 27th, Landmark Medical Center of Woonsocket submitted a signed asset purchase agreement to the Rhode Island Superior Court providing for its acquisition by Caritas Christi Health Care, the network of six Catholic hospitals affiliated with the Archdiocese of Boston. The Boston Globe previously reported that the merger would result in Landmark becoming a Catholic hospital. Now,
The Providence Journal reports that Landmark will remain a secular facility.
According to Landmark spokesman Bill Fischer, “The goal is to remain secular, and that’s what we’re aiming for,” while Caritas Director of Media Relations Chris Murphy stated ” Our intent is to preserve Landmark in its current form, which includes no religious affiliation.”
This means that Caritas will own and operate a facility where sterilizations are performed and abortifacient contraceptive services are provided.
Approval of the sale must be granted by Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch, Superior Court Judge Michael A. Silverstein, and the Rhode Island Department of Health. Meanwhile, approval is still pending from the Holy See, the Supreme Judicial Court of the Commonwealth, and the Massachusetts Department of Public Health for the acquisition of Caritas Christi by the Steward Healthcare System, the for profit subsidiary of Cerberus Capital Management.
The Catholic Action League called the decision to keep Landmark secular “further evidence that the Archdiocese of Boston has not been straightforward about the future Catholic identity of Caritas Christi Health Care.”
Catholic Action League Executive Director C. J. Doyle stated: “It is morally impermissible for a Catholic health care entity to participate in contraception and sterilizations. That is gravely contrary to Catholic moral teaching and is a direct violation of the Ethical and Religious Directives of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.”
“More troubling however, is the lack of candor. During the 2009 controversy over a proposed joint venture between Caritas Christi and the Centene Corporation, Cardinal Sean O’Malley gave repeated assurances that Caritas would do nothing contrary to Catholic moral principles, going so far as to assert that those who suggested otherwise were ‘doing a grave disservice to the Church.’ Caritas was later forced to withdraw from the venture when it became apparent that it would entail abortion referrals.”
“In the public discourse about the impending transfer of Caritas Christi to Cerberus, the Cardinal, the Archdiocese, and Caritas have all claimed that the hospital network’s continuing Catholic identity is assured. In testimony at a public hearing on July 1st however, James Karam, Chairman of the Board of Governors of Caritas Christi stated ‘ I told the Cardinal that we cannot guarantee the future Catholic identity of Caritas.’”
“The retention of Landmark’s secular identity is a disturbing harbinger of the likely future secularization of Caritas itself. It is now clear that what remains of the Catholic identity of Caritas Christi is being progressively abandoned, that the Archdiocese of Boston has consented to this abandonment, and that neither the Archdiocese nor Caritas is being forthright with the public and with the Catholic community about the consequences of this policy.”
Deal W. Hudson
Deal W. Hudson is president of Catholic Advocate, an organization which engages and encourages faithful Catholics to actively participate in the political process to support elected officials and policies that remain consistent with the teachings of the Catholic Church.
Formerly publisher and editor of Crisis Magazine for ten years, his articles and comments have been published widely in publications such as the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Washington Post, and U.S. News and World Report. He has also appeared on TV and radio news shows such as the O'Reilly Factor, Hannity & Colmes, NBC News, and All Things Considered on National Public Radio.
Hudson worked with Karl Rove in coordinating then-Gov. George W. Bush's outreach to Catholic voters in 2000 and 2004. In October 2003, President Bush appointed him a member of the official delegation from the United States to attend the 25th anniversary celebration of John Paul II's papacy.
Hudson, a former professor of philosophy for 15 years, is the editor and author of eight books. He tells the story of his conversion from Southern Baptist to Catholic in An American Conversion (Crossroad, 2003), and his latest, Onward, Christian Soldiers: The Growing Political Power of Catholics and Evangelicals in the United States, was published in March 2008.
He is married to Theresa Carver Hudson, also a Baptist convert, and they have two children, Hannah, 21, and Cyprian, 13, who was adopted from Romania in 2001.
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This is sadly not the first time the archdiocese has positioned itself to be enriched from abortions and other moral evils performed on sick and distraught patients.
This does seem to be the most transparent arrangement.
I f they follow their usual modus operandi, the archdiocese will make prominent an agreement signed by Cardinal O’Malley that purportedly binds Caritas to Catholic ethics and moral teaching keeping their fingers crossed that the Holy See will not scratch the surface.
The agreement of course is set up to be nullified at any given time is the new owners find Catholic moral teaching is in conflict with civil law, at which point they will give the Cardinal 25 million dollars and the Cardinal will release them from the Agreement.
I am not making this up.
The Archdiocese of Boston gave pro-abortion/pro-homosexual marriage Ted Kennedy a Roman Catholic funeral attended by the Cardinal and dozens of priests..
Considering this, how can anyone be surprised that Catholic hospitals in Boston will now be offering abortions and sterilizations?
contacting Cardinal Cordes’ office at Cor Unum in the Vatican. He is charged with oversight of Catholic charitable orgaizations and is one, I know, who is concerned about the secularization of Catholic caritas groups.
If that “secular” hospital will remain secular, then why is the Archdiocese of Boston acquiring it? What is the purpose? Why not just make the existing hospitals better? WHy do they need to acquire another hospital, which they intend to keep secular anyway? I don’t see the upside of the whole transaction.
Judastown?
Once the seat of American Catholicism, Boston and much of New England has become her nemisis(if not her dark side-and I mean much more than gay pride day at Fenway). 53% of Catholics voted for the most pro-abortion/infanticide president in history. I hear from the shepherds, no wailing or gnashing of teeth at such scandal, no calls for reform,mass prayer, councils or re-education/catechesis – no plans for the salvation of the Church that was created to bring about salvation-just more of this stuff to add to the hall of shame of Notre Dame and millions to ACORN uninvestigated scandal that helped elect this culture of death president.
We are dying from within.