But “Final Step” Not Yet Attained… Mass And Eucharist Restored To Phoenix Hospital
By DEXTER DUGGAN
PHOENIX — The restoration of Mass and the Eucharist to St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center here was described as comfort in the COVID-19 pandemic as well as symbolic of Easter hope.
These Catholic mainstays had been removed a decade ago when Thomas Olmsted, the bishop of the Diocese of Phoenix, decertified the hospital’s religious status because of various violations of Catholic medical ethics that came to his attention, not only one publicized direct abortion performed there in 2009.
However, the vice president of the Catholic Medical Association of Phoenix (CMAP) told The Wanderer on April 1 that because of financial pressures and a widespread lack of traditional medical ethics these days, he was “very pessimistic” about area Catholic hospitals fully returning to the Church’s fold.
James Asher, DO, who has a certificate in bioethics from the National Catholic Bioethics Center, in Philadelphia, and an MA in bioethics from Midwestern University, said, “It could be argued that most identifying Catholic physicians today see their practice as one thing, their faith compartmentalized as something entirely different.”
Fr. Ignatius Mazanowski, FHS, director of medical ethics for the Diocese of Phoenix, although announcing the restoration of the Catholic mainstays, cautioned in a letter to the CMAP, “This present step of beginning Mass and the reservation of the Eucharist at St. Joseph Hospital is an important step, but not a final step. The process will continue and the Diocese of Phoenix is fully invested in that process.
“. . . We are also actively working toward having a stronger Catholic identity and culture at St. Joseph, with the ultimate goal of St. Joseph being recognized as Catholic by the Diocese of Phoenix,” Mazanowski continued. “This process is ongoing and we ask you for your continued prayers in this regard.”
On the Solemnity of the Annunciation, March 25, “Mass was celebrated at St. Joseph for the first time in 10 years, and the Blessed Sacrament is now reserved in the chapel,” the priest said.
Due to the pandemic, he said, Mass will be celebrated in private but “broadcast throughout the hospital.”
Next week’s hard copy issue of The Wanderer will present CMAP officer Asher’s analysis of the difficulties faced if trying to restore faithful Catholic medical practice.
“Bottom line: The reason we don’t have Catholic hospitals is because there aren’t very many people anymore who want them,” Asher said.