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Ascension, A Catholic Healthcare System, Denies Religious Liberty to Thousands

BY: M BAXTER

Ascension is the country’s largest faith-based hospital system and the second-largest private hospital system by the number of hospitals. According to Becker’s hospital review in 2019, Ascension has 151 hospitals, 2600 facilities, and over 150,000 employees. Ascension was formed from Ascension Health in 2012, which became the largest Catholic healthcare system in the U.S. One would expect the largest faith-based healthcare system in America to value the First Amendment and the other American values of individual liberty and freedom. That is, unfortunately, not the case. Like so many different companies around the country, they’ve belittled liberty and put the founding documents in their rear-view mirror. That should not be a surprise for a company that prides itself on its ABIDE policy yet fails to mention religion in its non-discrimination policy. ABIDE, meaning Appreciation, Belongingness, Inclusivity, Diversity, Equity. It was inclusive of Ascension to deny 650 vaccine exemptions from one hospital in Michigan and only allowing a reported 2100 exemptions nationwide. Denying religious exemptions by the thousands says an awful lot about a Catholic-based hospital system when that is not the norm around the country.

What else does it say about a Catholic-based hospital system when both the archbishop for the military services, Timothy Broglio, and Bishop Athanasius Schneider of Kazakhstan, disagree with the vaccine mandate and the vaccine? Archbishop Broglio reminded his congregation of the Catholic Church’s position about the “morally permissible” nature of the SARS-CoV-2 shots but went on to say, “that doesn’t preclude a person from forming a sincerely held religious belief to the contrary.” Furthermore, “Accordingly, no one should be forced to receive a COVID-19 vaccine if it would violate the sanctity of his or her conscience.” Bishop Schneider has gone so far as to provide affidavits to his Confraternity, which is “opposed to abortion-tainted vaccines as a deeply religious held belief.” The Bishop also quotes the Bible in December 2020 to the Catholic citizens of Illinois by reminding them of Mark 13:22, “The Lord said that in the end times even the elect will be seduced” when speaking of how the Catholic Church is justifying these jabs as policy based on the principle of material cooperation. It would appear that this Catholic-based healthcare system has become seduced with power in denying religious liberty to their employees. It does not appear that Ascension is following the Lord’s direction to the church in 1 Thessalonians 5:22, “Abstain from all appearance of evil…

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One Comment

  1. Indiana Dad Indiana Dad November 9, 2021

    Thank you for writing this article. My wife’s suspension from St. Vincent’s in Indiana begins on November 13. This Catholic family is very disheartened to see the morally questionable actions of this organization.

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