Bishop Thomas Olmsted of the Diocese of Phoenix held a press conference this afternoon and has stripped St. Joseph’s Medical Center of its status as being a Catholic hospital.
This is no surprise for anybody following the story as the Bishop has struggled with this hospital pretty much since his installment as bishop seven years ago. This year as the result of the abortion performed there and the unapologetic nun who excommunicated herself by allowing it the whole thing has snowballed. Too bad it was not just one bad nun who did not understand Church teaching and its application but instead a cancer that had metastasized throughout Catholic Healthcare West (CHW). The bishop in his statement lists several of formal cooperation with evil that the hospital was involved with and that the bishop had only recently learned of. The hospital has been in violation of some Ethical Religious Directives (ERDs) issued by the U.S.C.C.B. over the years and we know learn the full extent of these violations.
The bishop led off with “Whatever you did for the least of my brothers and sisters, you did for me.” and makes the distinction between authentic Catholic healthcare and what CHW has been doing.
I am very thankful for the Bishop’s action, but I am not rejoicing that he had to take such a necessary action. I think the Bishop feels the same way as evidenced by his letter. This though is what makes him a good shepherd in that his actions primarily are directed towards protecting the flock and not just getting along with the wolves.
A Catholic hospital disobedient to both Church teaching and their local Bishop is no Catholic hospital at all, but just a hospital with some Catholic trappings and the name of a saint. The action of the administration has been nothing but scandalous and their language the same as all dissidents use. They hide themselves in their own interpretation and then appeal only to those theologians who hold that exact same opinion. It is consensus with only those who agree with them.
I applaud Bishop Olmsted for this slow and deliberate action in apparently doing all he could to not come to this point and then making the right decision when circumstances forced this.
If only he could strip them of the name St. Joseph also. I would prefer they name themselves “Moloch R Us” in a bid to transparency and the reality of what they are willing to do. There is great scandal in the name of medical institutions that murder the unborn having the name of a saint or Our Lord himself. Jill Stanek blew the whistle on Christ Hospital performing infanticide. These institutions should all rename themselves to more fitting titles, but I guess Mengele Hospital doesn’t succeed PR-wise.
Even sadder is that it is not just this one hospital so infected. CHW runs over 30 medical institutions in California, Arizona, and Nevada and the problems that exist in this one hospital also exist to some degree in the other ones. American Life League in just two days of investigation found multiple scandalous activities by CHW as evidence in this PDF.
I sincerely hope that more than just Bishop Olmstead work to resolve this problem to the extent possible. CHW has ethically bloody hands in other diocese and their bishops need to act appropriately. Besides CHW is not the only Catholic Health organization that has surrendered to the culture and betrayed Christ – Sister Carol Keehan anyone?
For anybody who want a more thorough look at this story and the implications involved I would highly recommend Jimmy Akin’s series on the subject: Parts in this series: one, two, three, four, five
5 comments
the Church needs more true Good Shepherds to protect the flocks,not reeds blowing in the wind.spirtual before material.
Thank you for the update. I have been active in the Pro-Life movement (in Portland, OR – !) for almost two years now, and I actually go out of my way to avoid news like this (it gets depressing), so I am glad there are folks around to update me.
Very sad. I grew up in Phoenix with my Mom who worked as a medical transcriptionist. In spite of the annoying labor practices there (no pun intended), she always prefered working only at St. Joe’s or Phoenix Children’s Hospital, as these were the only hospitals not murdering babies (which actions she might have to transcribe). My younger brother was actually born at St. Joe’s.
I wish I were living there again just so I could demonstrate at the ‘hospital’ every week. Indeed, when I am visiting Phoenix, I try to spend at least a couple of hours at one of the disgusting PP abortuaries, and once bumped into a medical tech – from St. Joe’s – spending his lunch break praying at the clinic I was praying at. I pray all is well with our pro-life medical professionals.
Thank God for real shepherds like the good Bishop Olmsted.
Would that Sister Carol Keehan’s bishop had such a backbone.
What about naming it “Mengele Memorial”?
Thanks for letting us know what’s going on and for speaking up for unborn babies. I agree, they shouldn’t get to use Saint Joseph’s name on their hospital. 🙁