Bishop Aquila: Catholic health care bill endorsements ‘severely damaged’ common good

[markomalley]

From CNA/EWTN News:

Self-described Catholic groups who endorsed the health care bill despite objections “severely damaged” the common good and diluted the pro-life witness of the U.S. bishops and the Catholic faithful, asserted Bishop Samuel J. Aquila of Fargo, North Dakota in a Tuesday statement.
…
“The actions of these groups have betrayed the common good, undermined the teaching authority of the Church, and have disregarded the courageous witness by the Bishops and the many millions of faithful Catholics to the gift and dignity of human life,” he continued. “We now face the reality of severe damage to the common good by the expansion of abortion throughout our land because of the counter-witness of these groups.”
Additionally, the bishop said, these groups and some Catholic legislators and laity have “weakened the bonds of communion” within the Church and diluted “her witness to justice for all, from the moment of conception until natural death.”
​

Nice seeing a bishop come out with the fact that those “Catholic” groups that supported the bill not only damaged pro-life efforts but also damaged the common good. More of them need to expose the lie that the bill was good, “except abortion.”

 

[presidentjlh]

This is further proof why the government should not be trusted with these sorts of things. The government is not interested in the common good, just power.

I agree that healthcare reform was needed, but it should have been done so as to make the health insurance market more competitive, which lowers prices naturally. Then, there would have been no need to address this federal funding for abortion problem.

But, the government is showing it does not care what the right thing is, only how to get more people dependent upon the government.

 

[Mark77]

God Bless Bishop Aquila & all of the courageous Bishops & clergy who defend all innocent life, from conception to natural death!

**We all must continue to educate ourselves, our family & our friends about the Truth of the Catholic Church’s teachings & the false teachings of people like Nancy Pelosi & groups like the “Catholic Health Assoc.” who claim to be “catholic” while spreading false information & confusing messages that damage the pro-life message of the True Catholic Church!

Many slick politicians have intentionally been able to dilute & obfuscate the Truth of the Catholic pro-life message & use severely misguided Catholics in high profile political positions & Institutions like CHA & Notre Dame University to subvert the Truth & confuse the faithful!
**
Jesus taught us about these people;

"For false Christs and false prophets will arise and show great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect." (MT 24:24)

Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, Ora Pro Nobis Peccatoribus!

mark

 

[AnotherVoice]

I support Bishop Aquila; it would be great if all the bishops could offer letters of support to him.

I would also like to know how many Catholic hospitals have dropped their membership in CHA and how many bishops have requested that the hospitals in their area pull out of CHA?

 

[markomalley]

I support Bishop Aquila; it would be great if all the bishops could offer letters of support to him.

I would also like to know how many Catholic hospitals have dropped their membership in CHA and how many bishops have requested that the hospitals in their area pull out of CHA?

How many Catholic hospitals are actually owned and operated by religious orders and how many are operated by non-profit (or for that matter for-profit) corporations…and, therefore, not under control of the local bishop?

For example, hospitals formerly operated by the Daughters of Charity, Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph. and Sisters of St. Joseph are now under a corporation called, Ascension Health. Hospitals impacted: St. Agnes (Baltimore), Providence (DC), Sacred Heart (Pensacola), St. Vincent’s (Jacksonville), Seton Health (NY, TX), and a ton of others.

For example, hospitals once operated by the Franciscan Sisters of the Poor and the Bon Secours Sisters are now a corporation called, Bon Secours Health International Inc. (St. Petersburg, Greenville, Richmond, Kentucky, Baltimore, NY, etc.)

Now I don’t see any direct connection to these corporations and the Church…much less to any bishop.

 

[AnotherVoice]

How many Catholic hospitals are actually owned and operated by religious orders and how many are operated by non-profit (or for that matter for-profit) corporations…and, therefore, not under control of the local bishop?

Perhaps they should not be identified as Catholic. There seems to be far too many people speaking on behalf of the Church without any authority to do so.