CJ Doyle's Press Release on Backtrack of Character at Landmark Hospital

NEWS RELEASE

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2010

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: C. J. DOYLE

(781) 251-9739

ARCHDIOCESE OF BOSTON BACKTRACKS ON

SECULAR CHARACTER OF LANDMARK HOSPITAL

On  August 31st, the Catholic Action League of Massachusetts broke the story in the Catholic media that Caritas Christi Health Care --- the network of six Catholic hospitals affiliated with the Archdiocese of Boston --- would operate the Rhode Island hospital it is acquiring, Landmark Medical Center of Woonsocket, as a secular facility which would continue performing sterilizations and distributing contraceptives. 

Within twenty four hours, the Archdiocese began to reverse the decision by Caritas to keep Landmark secular, and now asserts that Landmark will become a Catholic hospital compliant with Catholic medical ethics. This is a direct disavowal of the statement by Caritas Director of Media Relations Chris Murphy, who told The Providence Journal"Our intent is to preserve Landmark in its current form, which includes no religious affiliation."

The Catholic Action League called the reversal "a victory, though probably a temporary one, in the campaign to keep Caritas Catholic."

Catholic Action League Executive Director C. J. Doyle made the following comment: "First, Landmark was to become a Catholic hospital.  Then it wasn't.  Now, it is to become Catholic again. 'Who's in charge?'  might be a interesting question to explore."

"It is unimaginable that Caritas spokesman Chris Murphy would have publicly announced that Landmark was to remain a secular institution without the explicit approval of Caritas President Ralph de la Torre.  It is equally unlikely, that after fifteen months of negotiations between Landmark and Caritas, Doctor de la Torre would not have apprised his Board of Governors of this decision, which includes an Archdiocesan Cabinet Secretary and close advisor to Cardinal O'Malley."

"Whether the Archdiocese of Boston is trying to affirm Catholic moral teaching or simply trying to dig itself out of another embarrassing scandal of its own making, remains to be seen.  Given the buy-out clause which will allow the new owners of Caritas to terminate the Catholic identity of the system for the payment of an eight figure fee, it is likely that it won't take long for us to find out." 

Love this guy!

de la Torre and the Cardinal Contradict Caritas and Landmark

It's déjà vu all over again.



In an Aug. 28 story, The Providence Journal quoted spokesmen for both Caritas and Landmark as saying that Landmark would remain secular following the proposed acquisition. The statements drew criticism from those who said (<----i.e., BOSTON CATHOLIC BLOGGERS, CJ DOYLE, DEAL HUDSON, JOHN O'GORMAN, RAY NEARY AND THE COALITION TO SAVE CATHOLIC HEALTHCARE!) this could result in Landmark providing family planning, sterilization and other medical services considered immoral by Catholics.

On Sept. 1 the archdiocese released a statement saying that Cardinal Seán P. O'Malley "was concerned about public statements that Landmark would not be operated as a Catholic hospital if acquired by Caritas" and had met with Caritas's chief executive officer, Dr. Ralph de la Torre.



This is off-point, but isn't it a little late to look into the situation?

Another shining example of letting people go unsupervised until you read what they're doing in the newspaper.

We're making progress though. He was Johnny on the spot responding to the criticism, there was no attempt to call us people doing a disservice to the Church and they skipped the charade of calling in the National Catholic Bioethics Center and thanking them for their opinion without releasing that opinion publicly.

In any event, the Cardinal summoned de la Torre and a meeting took place.

As Catholics in Boston are quite accustomed to now, a statement was released following the meeting that contradicts the spokespeople for the two parties involved in the deal.


The details of the arrangement are hermetically sealed in an envelope and are to remain secretive until the deal gets the go-ahead from the judge.

No further questions about the contradiction were (or will be) answered. But trust them, it is all as Catholic as the Pope.

Why the secret?


This is exactly the same thing that happened with Centene, remember?

The Commonwealth said Caritas would and in fact was was compelled to provide abortions.
Caritas said it was going to make arrangements to provide abortions.
Centene admitted to sufficient facts that abortions would be provided.


But the Cardinal and Ralph dela Torre said it was all balderdash.

For a trip down memory lane, visit THIS for another episode of "there is nothing violating Catholic teaching is involved in the arrangement" while all parties involved in the arrangement are contradicting you.

It turned out the Cardinal and Ralph delaTorre were not being forthright about that deal.

Here is yesterday's statement from the Cardinal and de la Torre:

On Sept. 1 the archdiocese released a statement saying that Cardinal Seán P. O'Malley "was concerned about public statements that Landmark would not be operated as a Catholic hospital if acquired by Caritas" and had met with Caritas's chief executive officer, Dr. Ralph de la Torre.

In the statement de la Torre said, "We wish to clarify statements that have been previously made regarding Landmark Medical Center and its affiliation with Caritas Christi. Currently, Caritas Christi advises Landmark Medical Center, but does not manage the hospital. If Landmark Medical Center is acquired by Caritas Christi or by any company owning the Caritas Christi hospitals, Landmark Medical Center will function within and abide by the Ethical and Religious Directives."

"I am grateful to Dr. de la Torre for his strong leadership in turning around the Caritas Christi Health Care System," said Cardinal Seán. "He shares our commitment to advancing the mission of Caritas Christi. We look forward to the conclusion of the Caritas Christi transaction with Steward Health Care System LLC so that the system will receive much needed capital for its infrastructure, programs, and pension funds while continuing to provide high quality healthcare in accord with the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services adopted by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops."

and here is the statements of both Caritas and Landmark:

“The goal is to remain secular, and that’s what we’re aiming at,” a spokesman for Rhode Island’s Landmark hospital told the Providence Journal. A Caritas Christi spokesman confirmed: “Our intent is to preserve Landmark in its current form, which includes no religious affiliation."

Got trust?

And, by the way, if Ralph de la Torre has Caritas now turning a profit, remind me again, why do we have to sell them off?

Caritas Buys Landmark and Admits Distancing Itself from Operating as Catholic

UPDATED

Sometimes when I check my stats, I can see TTBO readers refreshing their browsers quite a bit when there's some ghastly development in the Archdiocese and I haven't posted substantively on it yet.    


Its like I know exactly that you're thinking.   "Whhhoah, look at this story.   I'll bet McKinley is steamed up. Let me mosey on over to TTBO to catch the locomotive!  "


:O)

So sorry about the post with no links and the radio silence.  It's been a crazy few days.   


I hope you found you way to the lively post at Bryan Hehir Exposed post HERE that contrasts what Caritas says:

"the deal does not require Landmark to become a Catholic hospital or to accept the limitations of Catholic doctrine.  Landmark spokesman Bill Fischer said the hospital intended to remain secular, and Caritas spokesman Chris Murphy confirmed that, saying, “Our intent is to preserve Landmark in its current form, which includes no religious affiliation.”

..with what Cardinal O'Malley says:

"Caritas Christi will never do anything …in any way to participate in actions that are contrary to Catholic moral teaching.”

Good Heavens no, Caritas Christi will never do anything contrary to Catholic moral teaching.  Why that would be preposterous.


Boston Catholics following the turmoil in the Archdiocese will tell you that the Landmark acquisition was preceded by the announcement from the "Pastoral Center" that the Caritas and the Cardinal had entered into a "Stewardship Agreement" with Cerebus that reportedly preserved the Catholic identity of Caritas.


The Pilot story about the agreement is here.


Given the news this week, I'm repeating the story in its entirety (emphasis mine)

The Archdiocese of Boston and Caritas Christi Health Care announced today that they have executed a Stewardship Agreement that ensures the Catholic identity of the Caritas Christi hospitals, pending the approval of the transaction transferring the system to Steward Healthcare System LLC (“Steward”), a newly formed affiliate of Cerberus Capital Management, L.P. 

“We are pleased to announce the completion of a Stewardship Agreement that memorializes Steward’s commitment to maintain the Catholic identity of the Caritas Christi Health Care system and its fidelity to the mission of the Church’s healthcare ministry,” said Cardinal Seán O’Malley. “The transaction with Steward will provide the system much needed capital for its infrastructure, programs, and pension funds while continuing to provide high quality healthcare in accord with the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services adopted by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (the “Ethical and Religious Directives”).”

“In our search for capital, we were committed to finding a partner that valued our Catholic tradition. Cerberus Capital Management has committed to preserving the Catholic tradition of Caritas Christi Health Care and this agreement solidifies that commitment. We are grateful that the RCAB and Caritas will continue to work together to fulfill our mission,” said Ralph de la Torre, MD, Chief Executive Officer of Caritas Christi Health Care.

“I wish to express my appreciation to Dr. Ralph de la Torre and his leadership team for their commitment to working with the Archdiocese to achieve a Stewardship Agreement for these hospitals,” said Cardinal Seán. “I am grateful that we have reached a meaningful agreement that allows us to continue to serve those in need while never losing sight of the moral and religious teachings handed down to us by Christ.”

They will never lose sight of it, I tell you.


Here are some other quotes about the Stewardship Agreement gathered up from another BHE post:

We announced yesterday that an agreement has been reached with Cerberus that ensures the Catholic identity of the Caritas Christi hospitals. The sale is still pending as the Attorney General has to review it, but this stewardship agreement was a key component for us because it will preserve the Catholic identity of Caritas. (Cardinal Sean’s May 7, 2010 blog) 

The Stewardship Agreement memorializes Steward’s commitment to maintain the Catholic identity of the Caritas Christi Healthcare system and its fidelity to the mission of the Church’s healthcare ministry.” (Fr. Richard Erikson, Vicar General, quoted in The Pilot, May 14, 2010) 

This is a substantive and structural commitment by the archdiocese and Steward to operate this hospital system by the religious and moral directives of the Catholic Church.” (Fr. Bryan Hehir, Secretary for Healthcare and Social Services, quoted in The Pilot, May 14, 2010) 

The Coalition to Save Catholic Healthcare has been all over this, asking the Nuncio to step into the donnybrook, among other things.   Their communications are worthy of its own post - which I hope to get to over the weekend.  


Deal Hudson picked up the story today, publishing CJ Doyle's spectacular press release.  




I'd say my sentiments could be accurately summarized by the comment named Enrichment from Abortions.

This is sadly not the first time the archdiocese has positioned itself to be enriched from abortions and other moral evils performed on sick and distraught patients. 

This does seem to be the most transparent arrangement. 

I f they follow their usual modus operandi, the archdiocese will make prominent an agreement signed by Cardinal O'Malley that purportedly binds Caritas to Catholic ethics and moral teaching keeping their fingers crossed that the Holy See will not scratch the surface. 

The agreement of course is set up to be nullified at any given time the new owners find Catholic moral teaching is in conflict with civil law, at which point they will give the Cardinal 25 million dollars and the Cardinal will release them from the Agreement. 

I am not making this up. 

The Cardinal has put the wolves in charge to ravage the souls of the sheep.  He has repeatedly made clear that he wants us to surrender, without resistance, our children to be destroyed.   But what a happy day it will be when we can all be unified with the game plan of the wolves.


Good luck with that.

The Cardinal and Caritas close to closing another deal that will require outsourcing abortions, sterilizations, family Planning

As previously mentioned, in addition to the contract to provide abortions through "CeltiCare", Cardinal O'Malley and Caritas have been in negotiations to purchase Landmark Medical Center in Rhode Island.


This will be the second business arrangement that will involve the Catholic Cardinal's agreement to subcontract parties to perform moral evils.

The mysterious pot of money in a corporation that is supposedly broke is apparently not limited to the previously reported 70 million they're spending on IT.

The financially strapped Caritas Christi Health Care hospital system is negotiating to buy the Landmark Medical Center, a 214-bed community hospital in Woonsocket, R.I., that has been in court-appointed receivership for a year. Massachusetts and Rhode Island regulators say they will take a hard look at the potential merger.

Officials at Caritas Christi and Landmark declined to confirm that a deal is close. “We have looked at Landmark Medical Center, as many others have, and have not yet decided whether we are interested in pursuing a relationship with them,’’ said Caritas Christi spokeswoman Teresa Prego. A merger would require Landmark to become a Catholic hospital.

While the hospital doesn’t perform abortions, Thundermist does offer family planning and sterilization at Landmark and would have to find other relationships to continue providing those services if the hospital is acquired by Caritas Christi, Montanaro said.

Any more questions about whether O'Malley has been upfront and truthful?