What if Catholic bishops aren’t bluffing? (To close hospitals and schools because of HHS Mandate)

Hotair ^ | 03/01/2012 | Ed Morrissey

[RJS1950]

This would also cause chaos with medical education. Many of the Catholic hospitals are conjoined with a Catholic university medical school.

I believe that this is part of der Fuehrer’s plan.

[Truth29]

Maybe Obama would seize the facilities and draft the staff into national service based upon some penumbra in the Constitution.

[Mercat]

If the bishops fold on this, it’s going to be hard for me to stay in the Church. Already I don’t donate to CC or the schools. I just donate for my little parish church to keep its doors open and to Christian radio. I’ll find a parish with no school that doesn’t pledge to any one except Rome.

[Buckeye McFrog]

They will probably work out some phoney-baloney plastic banana good-time rock-and-roll arrangement like the one that Mercy Hospital has with UPMC here in Pittsburgh.

Under that deal UPMC gets to run the place and call all the shots, while they retain the name Mercy and become CINO (Catholic In Name Only). I presume that the Order of Nuns gets some cut of whatever profit UPMC can squeeze out of the place.

[massgopguy]

You will see the largest confiscation of church property since the Age of Terror.

[agere_contra]

Or since Henry the 8th.

[PGR88]

It would give Obama every excuse he needs to officially nationalize the entire health-care industry.

[rfreedom4u]

Although I am not Catholic, I stand behind them on this.

[GonzoGOP]

They aren't. The Catholic hospital where my wife works has refused to sign new contracts with the insurance companies that require them to give up the conscience exemptions. It turns out economic blackmail is less effective against a hospital where the board of directors are monks with a vow of poverty. They will serve as long as they can and then close the doors. Take away everything and it turns out they are OK with that. The brothers are not men who take their ethics lightly.

[afraidfortherepublic]

The public school teacher unions will rejoice over Catholic schools closing.

[St_Thomas_Aquinas]

Catholic Charities closed its adoption centers here in MA, because they would have been forced to adopt children out to sodomites.

There was barely a whimper from the public.

When the Church is forced to sell off hospitals, the reaction will be similar.

The Marxists formed our society in government schools. They are now simply reaping the harvest.

[Our man in washington]

An abortifacient kills an innocent life. The Bible has only three instances where God approves the breaking of the law, and one of them is saving innocent life. See Exodus 1:17. The Catholic Church should defy the law and accept the punishment for doing so. I doubt even Obama wants nationwide television coverage of nuns and bishops being hauled off in cuffs.

[chiefqc]

And the goverment would decide which babies live and which babies are murdered and the smae for people who are ill.

[St_Thomas_Aquinas]

-——They will serve as long as they can and then close the doors. Take away everything and it turns out they are OK with that. The brothers are not men who take their ethics lightly.-——

Catholic colleges went down the tubes when the religious-led boards were turned over to the laity.

1967 was the year.

God bless the good sisters, brothers, priests and bishops.

Looks like we’re headed for the catacombs. It might not be a bad thing.

[GonzoGOP]

If the bishops fold on this, it’s going to be hard for me to stay in the Church.

The problem is that their are two Catholic Churches. Their is the church of the parish and bishops. Then there are the holy orders. And the holy orders that I have personally had contact with, Jesuits (educated me), Alexian Brothers (worked for them), Franciscans (personal friends), tend to be made of tougher stuff than the parish priests. I would not be surprised if some of those guys will go underground before they back down. And for the most part they control the universities and hospitals, at least here in Chicago.

[GonzoGOP]

Catholic colleges went down the tubes when the religious-led boards were turned over to the laity.

Not all. I'm Jesuit educated in the 1980's and I'm probably one of the few kids who went into college an apathetic mind of mush and came out a coneservative. OK Reagan being in the white house had something to do with it. But the forced nine credis of tehology and nine credis of philosophy helped a lot in shaping my world view. Especially as I had Jesuits teaching at the 101 level. I got the libs in the advanced class, but they had already taught me how to spot the BS.

[Venturer]

As a Lifelong Catholic, I give this opinion.

The Church may sell these hospitals or turn them over to someone else to run, but they love money too much to just close them.

[SeekAndFind]

RE: I doubt even Obama wants nationwide television coverage of nuns and bishops being hauled off in cuffs.

They raided Gibson Guitars and seized a half-million dollars worth of property for “violating” ( note the quotes ) an inappropriate tariff code on wood from India and have not even filed any charges MONTHS LATER !!

First they came for Gibson and no one spoke up for them because guitars are not their business, then they’ll come for the Catholics, will anyone speak up for them?

[St_Thomas_Aquinas]

———The Catholic Church should defy the law and accept the punishment for doing so. I doubt even Obama wants nationwide television coverage of nuns and bishops being hauled off in cuffs.-——

He won’t. He’ll just seize title and bank accounts. Sometime later the doors will be padlocked.

The Church simply doesn’t have the resources to support a sit-in. And what little She has will be confiscated.

Confrontation is justifiable, if not called for. It’s just hard to imagine an effective tactic.

Regardless, judging from past performance, the bishops lack the courage for confrontation, but then, so does the laity. We’re soft.