Catholic chaplain ruled victim of bias at US federal agency

[Dale_M]

A US federal tribunal has reinstated a Catholic chaplain at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), finding that the priest was the victim of anti-Catholic discrimination.

Father Henry Heffernan was removed from his post at the NIH because “the agency discriminated against [Heffernan] on the basis of religion,” ruled the Merit Systems Protection Board.

The NIH case against Father Heffernan was based on the priest’s refusal to accept the agency’s call for a “generic” chaplaincy, in which ministers of different religious backgrounds performed services for all denominations. Father Heffernan had insisted that Catholic sacraments can only be administered by Catholic priests.

cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=49584

 

[mschrank]

Elizabeth, I’m comin’ to join ya!

Ha ha ha… wow, I am surprised.

I wonder if the devil is wearing a parka today?

 

[curious2day]

Here’s a link to another news article on the case:

Link to Article

Chaplains in a lot of situations have looked after people of many faiths. The military is the most obvious example. But it seems like there is a difference between situations where interfaith chaplaincy is a necessity – like on the battlefield – and those where it is a convenience to a government agency, as in a hospital.

 

[Dale_M]

Here’s a link to another news article on the case:

Oh, wow! I didn’t realize Fr. Heffernan was 76 years old! This guy is a fighter. Good for him
(and us)!

He deserves thanks and praise, especially for coming to help Catholic patients on his days off.

 

[didymus]

So why has no disciplinary action been taken against the good Father’s boos for his anti-Catholic bias? “I’ll never hire a Catholic chaplain again” – that’s not bigotry?

 

[Spirithound]

Why would the priest refuse to see non-Catholics? Protestants don’t have any rituals that we don’t, I suppose he wouldn’t want to perform a non-Catholic ritual, but at the same time, a patient wouldn’t want someone not of his religion performing the ritual either.

 

[ElizabethAnne]

Why would the priest refuse to see non-Catholics? Protestants don’t have any rituals that we don’t, I suppose he wouldn’t want to perform a non-Catholic ritual, but at the same time, a patient wouldn’t want someone not of his religion performing the ritual either.

The article does not say that the priest refused to see non-Catholics. It said he maintained that Catholic sacraments must be administered by a Catholic priest. The implication of the article is that non-Catholic chaplains were instructed to give Catholics last rites, the Eucharist, etc. and that he did not support that.