Free Republic

Denver, Colo., May 5, 2023 / 10:25 am Federal government regulators backed off their demands that a Catholic hospital extinguish its chapel candle after the Oklahoma hospital’s lawyers argued that their client’s religious freedom was being violated. The hospital was informed that it will receive a waiver, provided it posts signs warning about keeping oxygen equipment away from the tabernacle candle, which is already enclosed and on a wall six feet off the ground. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) had ordered Saint Francis Health System in Oklahoma to snuff out one of its hospital’s sanctuary candles after...

A Catholic health system in Oklahoma has threatened to sue the federal government for violating its First Amendment rights over a decision to deny re-accreditation to one of its hospitals if it doesn’t follow an order to extinguish a long-lit sanctuary candle for safety purposes. Following a hospital inspection in February, a federal surveyor deemed that a living flame in the Saint Francis Hospital South chapel – part of the Saint Francis Health System – violated code, as it is “an open flame burning unattended 24/7.” The surveyor issued a citation demanding the candle be extinguished. Saint Francis Health Systems...