Cardinal criticizes contraceptive mandate, calls exemption too narrow -
HHS defined a religious employer as “one that: (1) has the inculcation of religious values as its purpose; (2) primarily employs persons who share its religious tenets; (3) primarily serves persons who share its religious tenets; and (4) is a nonprofit organization” under specific sections of the Internal Revenue Code.
It appears that Catholic Hospitals do not meet the 2nd and 3rd parts of this [proposed] definition and, thus, will not be exempt from the mandate to cover contraceptive services through their insurance policies.
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“The sisters who are vowed to the task of soothing human pain and ministering to human infirmities aim to make the beautiful name of ‘Mercy’ Hospital no idle title. Its charity work has been limited only by its resources … The patient within its portals feels that Mercy is its presiding genius breathing an atmosphere healing to both soul and body.” —
- The Report of Mercy Hospital (Muskegon), 1925-26
As found in Beyond Measure: A Legacy of Mercy by Elizabeth Mary Burns, RSM
I work next door to the nursing administration office, which was recently renovated. On the wall hangs an old poster advertising a “Benefit Dance” in August 1927 for the Nurses’ Training School of the Muskegon Mercy Hospital.
It sounds like I missed a good time!
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Looking forward to reading this…
That’s a lot of things together. Health care, of course, is one of the things the church has done in imitation of Jesus Christ, who came to heal the sick and to drive out evil in the world. It’s very important for us to be involved, but in a way that Jesus is involved, and not to do anything at all that would contravene the teachings of the Gospel. I stood with the president of the bishops’ conference, Cardinal George, when it came to the health care bill.Interview by John Allen
I was very disappointed when the Catholic Health Association took a position that really undermined the authority of the bishops. I wish that hadn’t happened. I think it was a severe moment of lack of communion in the church. I think we ought to continue to insist that when it comes to matters of faith and morals, bishops, in the name of Jesus Christ, have to be the ones who make the final decisions.
With regard to Notre Dame, I wrote a column in our Denver Catholic paper following the example of the local bishop, Bishop D’Arcy. I was very disappointed in the decision by Notre Dame. When the bishops met in Denver in 2004, we made a decision that Catholic universities shouldn’t give honors to people who are actively engaged in promoting abortion. That has happened with the current administration, so it seems to me that it was inappropriate for Notre Dame to give the President an honorary doctorate. I’m sure the President is a good man, and that he’s following his own conscience on the matter, but it isn’t the conscience of the church and he shouldn’t be honored because of that.