Cardinal responds to Caritas controversy

Key words here: "I understand and support..." I agree with the Cardinal. In the best of all worlds, Catholic hospitals could and would band together with other Catholic (or other, pro-life Christian hospitals) to keep going. Unfortunately, i think the decision is between associating with this group, or going out of business. Caritas has tried to amalgamate with other Catholic systems, and it hasn't worked out. the key thing is that there is no close relationship with Centene; it is not a hospital, it doesn't abort any babies. It is like paying your taxes to the federal government; yes, the government allows some abortions, but our cooperation
is distant enough that it doesn't mean we have cooperated with the doctor, father, mother, etc. who have willed an abortion. Otherwise, 60 million Catholics should be in jail for non-payment of taxes. Catholic hospitals are a good thing. Remotely cooperating with this group seems to me to be just a bargaining consortium to keep prices down. As the Cardinal said, there is and will be no doubt about the Catholic church's position on abortion; if anything, that's the only thing some people (wrongly) think we stand for. that being said, i wish the Card's statement were more direct, one way or the other. This way, it just seems like he is sticking his finger in the wind, to sense the consensus, rather than forging the consensus.

Perhaps O'Malley could work the switchboard one day in this arrangement. The conversation would sound like this:

"Hi, Caritas Health Care, Cardinal O'Malley speaking...No we don't perform abortions at this building but let me refer you to one that does."

Thank God for government workers who sniffed this issue out. Apparently they are paid to remind the Church of its mission.

One of the best things about moving out of Norwood was that if I ever wake up with chest pains, the ambulance will not take me to Caritas Norwood.

If Catholic hospitals can't bring themselves to follow the wishes of their patients and sound medical advice -- including on the reproductive and end-of-life issues that some bitter old men in Rome have a problem with -- then they should find somebody who can.

Amen.

Surprisingly, I checked some very old, quite conservative moral theology books on the doctrine of 'cooperation in sin,'(which is like being an accessory or conspiracy in criminal law) and i was amazed at how 'liberal' they were in their interpretation. Fr.Francis Connell, cssr, Outlines of Moral Theology,": 1958 "Material cooperation is sinful if performed without a sufficient reason."...[regarding abortions, "A nurse could cooperate remotely, if otherwise she would lose her job, be treated hrshly, or refused promotion. By remote cooperation would be meant the care of the patient before the operation, the cleaning of the operating room, the sterilizing of the instruments, etc." These examples would seem to be more proximate than a mere business alliance on paper. The sufficient reason in this case would be that perhaps otherwise, the Caritas hospitals would have to close, a very tragic outcome if were to occur.

If the Catholic Church doesn't want to liquidate babies,
why can't you people join some other heathcare plan?