Catholics protest over plan to turn hospital chapel into Muslim prayer room
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Michael_Mayo
Guest
Sounds like an over reaction to :
“currently looking at how these [chapels and rooms] are used so that we have the best possible arrangements that meet everyone’s needs”.
“currently looking at how these [chapels and rooms] are used so that we have the best possible arrangements that meet everyone’s needs”.
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Tarpeian_Rock
Guest
Weasel words as a smokescreen. Is there some reason the Muslim community couldn’t build a hospital as Catholics did, one that serves better their own dietary and prayer needs? Or is the next step in this forcing Christian patients onto a halal diet?
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phil19034
Guest
I would like to see how they try spinning this as being anything but anti-Catholic.
This Chapel sounds wonderful, with adoration, etc.
But they want to profane it, give to another religion, and leave the Catholics without a Catholic Chapel for adoration and dedicated to mass.
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ProVobis
Guest
That might be the next step, unfortunately.
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R_H_Benson
Guest
Being confined to a hospital is enough of a trial. There is no doubt that Our Lord’s Presence in the Most Blessed Sacrament in that chapel provides so much grace and comfort to patients and staff alike. To have that one Source of comfort and joy wrenched away from them must be truly awful. And then there is the added insult to Our Blessed Lord of the consecrated ground being used for false worship. The storm clouds are gathering over the Church worldwide. We need to be ready to go back to the Coliseum.
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SMH_2015
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Seriously, the administrators of this hospital can’t see how offensive, unfair, & WRONG this would be…??
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BartholomewB
Guest
I’m sure they can see it perfectly clearly. That’s why they want to do it.
Seriously, the administrators of this hospital can’t see how offensive, unfair, & WRONG this would be…??
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katy
Guest
Our university has a “prayer room” that just coincidentally has only Muslim features in it. This is supposedly a Christian school that also has a generic chapel that can be rearranged to accommodate about any religion. The “prayer room”, also called a “meditation room” is never referred to as being a specific provision for Muslim students over everyone else, but of course it is. The Muslim students also have waivers from certain academic requirements mandatory for other students from non-English speaking countries. I suspect piles of money are behind it, and my first suspicion is that is a driving motivation in the hospital situation.
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MacBP
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I’m not sure about this particular case – it seems like the chapel is frequently used and their should be other accommodations for people of other faiths, but in general I think that Muslims tend to dominate interfaith prayer rooms because Muslims pray there most frequently. That may due to their requirement to pray 5 times a day, or it may be due to how few Christians are practicing their faith, but I suspect administrations tend to respond to the most frequent users of that service.
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Michael_Mayo
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What is needed is a Catholic chapel reserving the Blessed Sacrament and used for Mass.
But also a seperate interfaith room/chapel to provide a welcoming place for people of other faiths in their time of crisis.
As far as diet goes, hospitals do need to accomodate people of all faiths.
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Michael_Mayo
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The Vatican states we can make room to accomodate other faiths.
- When authorization for such ownership or use is given by the diocesan Bishop, according to any norms which may be established by the Episcopal Conference or the Holy See, judicious consideration should be given to the reservation of the Blessed Sacrament, so that this question is resolved on the basis of a sound sacramental theology with the respect that is due, while also taking account of the sensitivities of those who will use the building, e.g., by constructing a separate room or chapel.
- In Catholic schools and institutions, every effort should be made to respect the faith and conscience of students or teachers who belong to other Churches or ecclesial Communities. In accordance with their own approved statutes, the authorities of these schools and institutions should take care that clergy of other Communities have every facility for giving spiritual and sacramental ministration to their own faithful who attend such schools or institutions. As far as circumstances allow, with the permission of the diocesan Bishop these facilities can be offered on the Catholic premises, including the church or chapel.
- In hospitals, homes for the aged and similar institutions conducted by Catholics, the authorities should promptly advise priests and ministers of other Communities of the presence of their faithful and afford them every facility to visit these persons and give them spiritual and sacramental ministrations under dignified and reverent conditions, including the use of the chapel.
vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/chrstuni/general-docs/rc_pc_chrstuni_doc_19930325_directory_en.html
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cycleman
Guest
There has to be some type of respectful sharing of space between religions in cases like hospital chapels, and even churches.
Every religion having it’s own building is horrendously expensive, and with the gradual decline in practicing Catholics, financially unsustainable. The cathedral in my city is, absent some special service, locked and dark 22 hours of every weekday. Doors are unlocked and lights turned on for daily masses only. It does get a few more hours use on the weekends.
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Michael_Mayo
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Yes, the important issue though is the presence of the Blessed Sacrament and the consecrated altar. Not just there for anyone, especially if there was a non-Catholic service or something. There must be some guidelines with more clarity on that but I could not find them.
I am sure the hospital in the OP, if it is Catholic, will abide by Catholic guidelines. But is it a Catholic hospital? I don’t think it is. Still, they would have to comply with the local bishop if they want to reserve the Blessed Sacrament.
From thair Facebook page:
Rev John Hall from The Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust said:
"As a Trust we recognise how important the provision of dedicated faith and prayer rooms are at our hospitals for our staff, patients, carers and visitors of all faiths, and as such despite some media reports and comments and concerns posted on social media, we can confirm that the Trust has no plans to close any facilities, including the Catholic Chapel here, and we will not be changing or converting this important and well used chapel into any other prayer room.
"We provide a number of chapels and dedicated faith and prayer rooms across our Trust including at the North Manchester General Hospital. As part of our efforts to improve our faith and spiritual care services across our hospitals, we are currently looking at how we can improve the access, availability and standard of our facilities for those of all faiths and for all that wish to use them for prayer and reflection.
“We continue to listen and engage with all parties of all faiths to ensure we are meeting the needs of everyone who wish to use our chaplaincy and spiritual care services and facilities. More information about our spiritual care and faith services are available on our website at www.pat.nhs.uk. I would welcome any comments and feedback on how we can improve access to our faith facilities across our hospitals.”
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SWolf
Guest
We shouldn’t stop there.
We should add a Muslim prayer room to every Church to make sure Muslims feel welcome.
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Michael_Mayo
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A hospital is a place where all people should feel welcome and comforted as they do not always have a choice to be there. People come to a church of their own choosing.
You might be interested in what The Catholic Church says about Muslims.
usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/ecumenical-and-interreligious/interreligious/islam/vatican-council-and-papal-statements-on-islam.cfm
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SWolf
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And they can’t feel warm and comforted without a Muslim prayer room?
It’s ridiculous to expect a Catholic religious hospital to go to such lengths to support false religions.
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Michael_Mayo
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Such lengths? You mean provided a room?
How would you feel if you had no choice and had to go to a Muslim hospital?
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OraLabora
Guest
From what I can see it’s not a Catholic religious hospital. It is a Catholic chapel in a general hospital.
In any event, it’s a moot point. there are no plans to convert it:
pat.nhs.uk/news/Press-Statement—Catholic-Chapel-at-North-Manchester-General-Hospital.htm
Tempest in a teapot.
And yes, a general hospital must do its best to accommodate all faiths.
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Michael_Mayo
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