Well, St. Joseph’s Medical Center and Catholic Healthcare West (CHW) have made their decision to not comply with the requests of Bishop Olmsted. In the last post, I wrote about how St. Joseph's Medical Center- the same hospital that allowed an abortion despite the fact that it is a Catholic hospital- was being threatened to lose its 'Catholic' status. St. Joseph's and CHW, the group in charge of the hospital, were asked to comply with 3 requests:
1. CHW must acknowledge in writing that the medical procedure that resulted in the abortion at St. Josephs’ hospital was a violation of ERD 47, and so will never occur again at St. Joseph’s Hospital.
2. CHW must agree to a review and certification process conducted by the Medical Ethics Board of the Diocese of Phoenix to ensure full compliance with the Ethical and Religious Directives of the USCCB.
3. CHW must agree to provide for the medical staff at St. Joseph’s Hospital ongoing formation on the ERD’s, as overseen by either the National Catholic Bioethics Center or the Medical Ethics Board of the Diocese of Phoenix.
Well... they didn't. Therefore Bishop Olmsted, in accordance with Canon 216, has revoked his permission for St. Joseph's to use the name 'Catholic'. Canon 216 states:
Since they participate in the mission of the Church, all the Christian faithful have the right to promote or sustain apostolic action even by their own undertakings, according to their own state and condition. Nevertheless, no undertaking is to claim the name Catholic without the consent of competent ecclesiastical authority. (emphasis added)
The Bishop stated on December 21st that CHW has had a habit of not complying with the ethical teachings of the Catholic Church for at least the past 7 years. The diocesan website has a video of the bishop giving a news conference in regards to St. Joseph's Hospital, as well as a statement by The National Catholic Bioethics Center.
I'm glad that Bishop Olmsted is standing up for the people of his diocese. The shepherd is fighting the wolves to keep them away from his flock. Speaking of which, the bishop did state that the faithful are allowed to seek medical treatment from St. Joseph's, but that he was not able to guarantee that the treatment would follow the Church's ethical teachings. And, of course, what should have been a personal, confidential issue between the bishop and the CHW and St. Joseph's. There are other bishops who stand up against these kinds of people, but they are fewer than they should be. I pray that more bishops are willing to stand up for their flock, even if it means being unpopular. Christ was rather unpopular himself when he spoke out against sinful actions.
There are some people who wanted the bishop to instead give St. Joseph's another chance. I think that is exactly what Bishop Olmsted did! He gave them a chance to adhere to 3 simple requests. Enough talk already, Bishop Olmsted has been talking with them for 7 years and it was indeed time for action. My question is why the heterodox people over at the National Catholic Reporter are so up in arms about it all? Can any of them name just one organization that is perfectly fine with other groups using their name or stating a non-existing affiliation that have contrary views to that organization? Basically, if the Catholic Church does not allow a secular organization to call itself Catholic, then why would it allow a hospital that does not follow Church ethical teaching to call itself Catholic?
What do you guys think? Is Bishop Olmsted overreacting or is he taking the right approach?
Correct approach. It's not like the hospital was shut down.
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