Cardinal O’Malley has given a direct and unambiguous statement regarding the controversy over Caritas Christi on his blog this past Friday:
To be perfectly clear, Caritas Christi will never do anything to promote abortions, to direct any patients to providers of abortion or in any way to participate in actions that are contrary to Catholic moral teaching and anyone who suggests otherwise is doing a great disservice to the Catholic Church. We are committed to the Gospel of Life and no arrangement will be entered into unless it is completely in accord with Church teaching.
Recognizing the complexity of the proposed arrangement, I will ask the National Catholic Bioethics Center to review the arrangement and to provide me their opinion.
I can say no more on this matter, considering my job, but I wanted to highlight this so others could spread the word and dispel any lingering doubts.
Yeah, I read that. I was happy to see his statement, but I still wonder about the future of Catholic health care institutions. Having recently given birth at a Caritas hospital, I feel angry that such a wonderful, caring medical group could be forced out of business. I have given birth at several different hospitals (in 3 different states), and my experience at St. Elizabeth’s in Brighton was exceptional. Now I may not have that experience again if I have another child?