What a Bishop....

From CNS:

Bishop Paul Loverde of the Roman Catholic diocese of Arlington, Va., said last week that if the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) should become law and a Catholic hospital in his diocese is forced to provide abortions, he would refuse to let the hospital comply, but he would also not close the institution.

Though there are no Catholic hospitals in his diocese, the bishop nevertheless was defiant: “I would say, ‘Yeah, I’m not going to close the hospital, you’re going to arrest me, go right ahead. You’ll have to drag me out, go right ahead. I’m not closing this hospital, we will not perform abortions, and you can go take a flying leap.’ ”

"Take a flying leap." The closest you'll get to hearing a bishop swear, I think. More:

[T]he Rt. Rev. Thomas J. Paprocki, auxiliary bishop of Chicago, pointed out that, if the government mandates that all health-care institutions perform abortions, it would not be enough for the Church merely to sell a hospital to another organization that would perform abortions.

“We would need to consider taking the drastic step of closing our Catholic hospitals entirely,” Paprocki said.

Cardinal Francis George, the head of the U.S. Catholic Conference, hinted at closures while answering questions at a news conference during the fall general assembly.

For as much flak as the bishops get for being more talk than action, this is one place where I don't think they're bluffing. Some local branches of Catholic Charities have already discontinued adoption services rather than be forced by state laws to adopt to gay couples; I can't see how the reaction would be any less drastic in the case of abortion. And from a pragmatic perspective, as Melinda Henneberger pointed out in Slate last week, the closure of one-third of the nation's hospitals wouldn't be exactly helpful in reforming our nation's health-care system. It's a warning that Obama and Congress should take very seriously.

HT:Justine

Comments

[Tracy]

It is wonderful to see bishops standing up to the culture of death in this way!

Hey, I tagged you for a meme!
http://organic-learning.blogspot.com/2008/12/christmas-music-meme.html