Once again we see that blogs can and do accomplish something besides generated heat and light in comment boxes. Last week, I posted the news that a a Catholic hospital in Toronto and the local Catholic cathedral were cooperating in a fundraiser to benefit an organization that distributes condoms as part of its AIDS prevention programs in direct contradiction of Church teaching.
Now we receive word that the fundraiser has been cancelled and the ties to the organization have been cut. Like I said at the time, the intent to save people from AIDS is noble, but you don’t accomplish a good end using evil means. You may save them from a mortal disease, but you endanger their immortal souls. Besides, the Ugandan example shows that a program that emphasizes abstinence is much more effective.
If only we could get the Canadian bishops’ own social justice agency to recognize that.
I regret the rush to judgement in this case. It turns out the whole affair was nothing more than inadvertent error, not the deliberate departure from Catholic teachings it was made out to be in some quarters.
LifeSite ran the article without waiting for an official response from the Archdiocese. In my humble view, Cardinal Ambrozic was treated most uncharitably in this case, and is owed an apology.
This was not an isolated incident. St. Michael’s Hospital is well known as a place that caters to gay causes and even supports certain events amenable to the homosexual agenda. And I know that Catholic employees were coerced into giving money to andsupporting these charities and events that went against their sense of morality.
And I don’t know how Cardinal Ambrozic was treated uncharitably. I never even mentioned him.
St. Michael’s Hospital is not owned by the Catholic Church; it is a publicly funded institution that is required to serve the whole public, regardless of whether or not they support Catholic teachings. I may stand to be corrected on this point, but I believe that this is a legal requirement.
Of course, this is not the case with the Cathedral and their error was rightly pointed out.
As for the treatment of Cardinal Ambrozic being uncharitable, I was referring to LifeSite and other blogs, notably Island Catholic, which concluded a Bishop Scandal was at hand.
For the record,I think my Cardinal rocks and will defend him when he is maligned.
St. Michael’s Hospital claims to be a Catholic hospital. If it cannot operate as a Catholic hospital by doing what is good and not doing evil, then it should either be shut down or stripped of the name Catholic so as to at least avoid scandal and leaving the impression that what it does is in accord with Church teaching.
In this you may be correct. More research into the practices of the hospital, its legal obligations to the general taxpayer and its Catholic status is required.
It’s Catholic status is right on its own web site (which I linked to from the original blog post) and to me that trumps all other considerations. If they’re Catholic, then they should act like it. If the law requires them to do evil, then they either shut down or ignore the unjust law.