Catholic Bishops To Investigate Catholic Hospital Group That Argued In Lawsuit That Fetuses Are Not People

The bishops of Colorado are vowing to undertake a "full review" of the "policies and practices" a Catholic health nonprofit that has argued in medical malpractice lawsuit against it for the death two unborn children that fetuses are not people.

Catholic Health Initiatives, which runs St. Thomas More hospital in Cañon City, Colo., made headlines this week for its surprising line of defense against the lawsuit, which was filed husband of the women who was pregnant with unborn twins and in its care (the woman died with the babies in her womb). Catholic social teaching says that fetuses are people -- the argument is part of the church's strong pro-life and anti-abortion positions.

(See the original story on the hospital and lawsuit as reported by The Colorado Independent's John Tomasic.)

On Thursday evening, the Catholic bishops of Colorado released the following statement:

The Catholic bishops of Colorado learned recently of the deaths of Lori Stodghill and her two unborn children, which took place at St. Thomas More Hospital in Cañon City, Colo. in 2006. We wish to extend our solidarity and sympathy to Lori's husband Jeremy, and her daughter, Elizabeth. Please be assured of our ongoing prayers.

From the moment of conception, human beings are endowed with dignity and with fundamental rights, the most foundational of which is life.

Catholics and Catholic institutions have the duty to protect and foster human life, and to witness to the dignity of the human person -- particularly to the dignity of the unborn. No Catholic institution may legitimately work to undermine fundamental human dignity.

Catholic Health Initiatives is a Catholic institution which provides health care services in 14 states, providing care to thousands of people annually. Catholic Health Initiatives has been accused by some of undermining the Catholic position on human life in the course of litigation. Today, representatives of Catholic Health Initiatives assured us of their intention to observe the moral and ethical obligations of the Catholic Church.

The Catholic bishops of Colorado are not able to comment on ongoing legal disputes. However, we will undertake a full review of this litigation, and of the policies and practices of Catholic Health Initiatives to ensure fidelity and faithful witness to the teachings of the Catholic Church.

Most Rev. Samuel J. Aquila, S.T.L., Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Denver
Most Rev. Michael Sheridan, S.Th.D, Bishop of the Diocese of Colorado Springs
Most Rev. Fernando Isern, Bishop of the Diocese of Pueblo

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Church of England OK's Celibate Gay Bishops

CANTERBURY, England (RNS) The Church of England on Friday (Jan. 4) confirmed that it has dropped its prohibition on gay clergy in civil partnerships becoming bishops -- but only if they agree to remain celibate.

Speaking on behalf of the Church's House of Bishops, Bishop of Norwich Graham Jones said in a statement: "The House of Bishops has confirmed that clergy in civil partnerships, and living in accordance with the teaching of the Church on human sexuality, can be considered as candidates for the episcopate. There had been a moratorium on such candidates for the past year and a half while the working party completed its task."

Jones added that the bishops agreed it would be "unjust" to exclude gay men from becoming bishops if they were otherwise "seeking to live fully in conformity with the Church's teaching on sexual ethics or other areas of personal life and discipline."

Although the bishops approved the change on Dec. 20, it wasn't noticed until Friday when the BBC's religious affairs correspondent, Robert Pigott, read it in a report published in the Church Times.

The move represents a major shift for the mother church of the worldwide Anglican Communion, which had already weathered a major schism when Anglicanism's American branch, the Episcopal Church, consecrated openly gay Bishop V. Gene Robinson in New Hampshire in 2003.

Evangelical Anglicans said that they would fight the move to let gay clergy become bishops.

Rod Thomas, chairman of the conservative group Reform, told the BBC that the idea of appointing people in civil partnerships as bishops had not been agreed on or debated by the wider church.

That would be a major change in church doctrine and therefore not something that can be slipped out in the news," he said. "It is something that has got to be considered by the General Synod."

The governing General Synod has already proven itself reluctant to make major changes to who can become a bishop; delegates narrowly defeated a proposal last November to allow women bishops, a decision that sparked widespread anger from the public and British government.

The issue of gay bishops has split the Church of England since 2003 amid a row over gay cleric Jeffrey John becoming the Bishop of Reading, about 58 miles west of London.

Presently, John is dean of St. Albans Cathedral in Hertfordshire and is registered in a same-sex civil partnership with his longtime partner. Under the new rules, he would be eligible to become a bishop as long as he maintains his commitment to celibacy.

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