Contact CJ Doyle at
The Catholic Action League

 

NEWS RELEASE

SATURDAY, JUNE 27, 2009

CONTACT: C. J. DOYLE, (781) 251-9739

CARITAS CHRISTI WITHDRAWS FROM CELTICARE

The Catholic Action League of Massachusetts today welcomed the news that Caritas Christi Health Care --- the network of six Catholic hospitals affiliated with the Archdiocese of Boston --- has withdrawn, under Archdiocesan pressure, from the HMO CeltiCare, which it co-founded and co-owned with the Centene Corporation. CeltiCare was established in May to administer a state funded Commonwealth Care health insurance contract, scheduled to start on July 1, which includes abortion coverage. It was the Catholic Action League which revealed on June 8 that CeltiCare advertised abortion as part of its health plans and listed Planned Parenthood as a reproductive services provider.

The Catholic Action League called the decision by Caritas to withdraw from CeltiCare “an 11th hour, but only partial victory, for the thousands of pro-life Catholics who have spent the last four months bombarding the Archdiocese of Boston with letters, petitions, phone calls and e-mails. The League warned however, that any continued participation by Caritas Christi in Commonwealth Care would obligate Caritas, directly or indirectly, to make abortion referrals.

Catholic Action League Executive Director C. J. Doyle stated: “Caritas Christi has indicated that a woman seeking an abortion at a Caritas hospital will be sent back to her insurer. For Commonwealth Care members that insurer will be CeltiCare, which will not only procure the abortion but will provide transportation to the abortion facility. Instead of offering compassionate alternatives to abortion, Caritas Christi will still be engaged in a two-step abortion referral. Troubling questions also remain about whether Caritas has already benefited financially from this contract, and whether it continues to have an ongoing relationship with the Centene Corporation.”

“Other questions are still unanswered. It has been publicly known since the 27th of February that this contract entailed participation in state subsidized abortions. The Caritas Christi Board of Governors, which includes an Archdiocesan Cabinet Secretary, has presumably known this since the end of 2008. Why did Caritas, with Archdiocesan support, seek to secure and eventually sign a contract which they knew to be morally problematic? Why did Cardinal O'Malley castigate the now vindicated critics of the contract as doing ‘a great disservice to the Catholic Church’? Why did it take the Archdiocese six months (just five days before the start-up date) to begin to disengage?”

“Caritas withdrew from CeltiCare because it became a toxic public relations liability for the Archdiocese, provoking a firestorm of pro-life opposition throughout the country. If Caritas is to remain faithful to Catholic moral principles is must withdraw however, not only from CeltiCare but from the entire Commonwealth Care contract."

NEWS RELEASE

 

 

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 17, 2009

 

CONTACT: C. J. DOYLE

(781) 251-9739

 

 

CARITAS CHRISTI BOARD INCLUDES
MAJOR DONORS TO PRO-ABORTION POLS

 

Since February, Caritas Christi Health Care --- the network of six Catholic hospitals affiliated with the Archdiocese of Boston --- has been enmeshed in a controversy over its decision to seek a state health insurance contract which requires abortion coverage.  Today, the Catholic Action League of Massachusetts revealed that five of the nine members of the Board of Governors of Caritas Christi have been major contributors to political figures who support legal abortion.

 

Using information gathered from the Federal Election Commission and the Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance, the League disclosed the following:

 

  • Longtime Caritas Chairman James J. Karam contributed a total of more than $19,000 among the campaigns of President Barrack Obama; Secretary of State Hillary Clinton; US Senator John Kerry; Governor Deval Patrick; former Vice President Al Gore; Congressmen Barney Frank and Jim McGovern; former Lt. Governor Kerry Murphy-Healey; former Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly and State Senator Joan Menard.

 

  • Caritas board member Joseph H. Feitelberg, Area Chair for the Order of Malta, contributed a total of more than $8,000 among the campaigns of John Kerry; Deval Patrick; Kerry Murphy-Healey; and Congressmen Barney Frank, Patrick Kennedy and Jim McGovern.

 

  • Caritas board member Neil F. Finnegan contributed a total of more than $19,000 among the campaigns of Vice President Joe Biden; US Senators Christopher Dodd, Edward Kennedy and John Kerry; Congressmen Michael Capuano, Patrick Kennedy and Edward Markey; Boston Mayor Thomas Menino; and former State Treasurer Shannon O’Brien.

 

  • Caritas board member John H. Garvey, Dean of Boston College Law School, contributed $1,750 to John Kerry. 

 

  • Caritas board member Ruben J. King-Shaw Jr., contributed $10,000 to Barrack Obama.

 

The Catholic Action League called the contributions “further compelling evidence of the indifference and infidelity to Catholic moral teaching which apparently permeates the leadership of Caritas Christi.”

 

Catholic Action League Executive Director C. J. Doyle stated: “No one should be surprised that Caritas Christi is prepared to participate in a state contract requiring abortion coverage, when the leadership of the organization is willing to subsidize and perpetuate the careers of politicians who believe that abortion should be legal, publicly funded and unrestricted.  Cardinal O'Malley must use his veto power to insist that Caritas Christi withdraw from the Commonwealth Care contract, and withdraw from CeltiCare.”

NEWS RELEASE

THURSDAY, JUNE 11, 2009

CONTACT: C. J. DOYLE
(781) 251-9739

CARDINAL O’MALLEY, CARITAS CHRISTI, AND ABORTION

The Catholic Action League of Massachusetts today took issue with the statements released yesterday by Sean Cardinal O'Malley, Archbishop of Boston, and Dr. Ralph de la Torre, President of Caritas Christi Health Care, regarding the Commonwealth Care contract awarded to the Caritas Christi/Centene Corporation partnership, now known as CeltiCare. This contract, offering health insurance to low-income Bay State adults, due to take effect on July 1, includes abortion coverage.

The Archdiocese stated that “Caritas is in active discussions with Celtic Group and CeltiCare with a view to making acceptable modifications to their arrangement.” The Cardinal went on to say that “...under no circumstances will Caritas either perform procedures prohibited by [Catholic teaching] or refer any patient to other providers who perform or procure such procedures.” Dr. de la Torre said “when the patients seek such a procedure, Caritas...will be clear that (a) the hospital does not perform them and (b) the patient must turn to his or her insurer for further guidance.”

Ironically, these statements came just one day after Brian Delaney, CeltiCare’s Director of Communications, when asked whether the Caritas hospitals would refer a patient seeking an abortion to the Caritas/Centene call center, answered “I believe so.” Meanwhile, The Boston Globe reports that Caritas Christi now owns a 49% share of CeltiCare, and that NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts will serve on CeltiCare’s advisory board.

The Catholic Action League described the statements as “yet more unpersuasive denials intended to obscure the fact that as of July 1, Caritas Christi will be in the abortion business.”

Catholic Action League Executive Director C. J. Doyle stated: “The Archdiocese has known for at least 3 1/2 months that this contract requires abortion coverage. Now with less than three weeks to the startup date, the cardinal is suddenly seeking modifications, having previously castigated others who questioned the contract. This reversal begs the questions of why Caritas sought this contract in the first place; why they signed it knowing it was problematic; and why they failed to raise these issues when they testified before the awarding agency on March 12. This last minute call for revisions is either a desperate public relations ploy aimed at diffusing opposition from pro-life Catholics, or a stunning admission of institutional incompetence, or both.”

“The Cardinal’s statement is contradicted by that of Dr. de la Torre. In sending a patient seeking an abortion back to her insurer, Caritas will be sending Commonwealth Care members to the Caritas/Centene partnership, which will not only procure the abortion but lists Planned Parenthood as a reproductive services provider. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 2009 will allow no exemption for Caritas Christi in the matter of abortion. Caritas must withdraw from this contract.”

NEWS RELEASE

MONDAY, JUNE 8, 2009

CONTACT: C. J. DOYLE
(781) 251-9739

CARITAS CHRISTI CONTRACT
WILL INCLUDE ABORTIONS

Celticare Health Plan of Massachusetts, which describes itself as “a partnership between Celtic Group, a subsidiary of Centene Corporation, and Caritas Christi Health Care” --- the network of six Catholic hospitals affiliated with the Archdiocese of Boston --- has revealed on its website that all three of its Commonwealth Care health plans will include abortion coverage.

On March 12th the Commonwealth Health Insurance Connector Authority, the state agency which administers the Commonwealth Care program for low income Bay State residents, awarded a contract to the Commonwealth Family Health Plan Inc. CFHP is a joint venture between Caritas Christi and Celtic Group. On May 6th, the partners established Celticare as a for-profit HMO to manage the state awarded Commonwealth Care contract.

Four of the ten directors of Celticare are officials of Caritas Christi, including Mark J. Rich, the Chief Financial Officer of Caritas, and Dr. Justine M. Carr, Chief Medical Officer of Caritas. The other six directors are affiliated with either Centene Corporation or its wholly-owned subsidiary, the Celtic Insurance Company. Caritas CFO Mark Rich is listed as the Secretary of Celticare.

Celticare also listed on its website the names of “Family Planning and Reproductive Services Providers”, including Planned Parenthood, to which it will refer plan members.

The Catholic Action League called the revelations “final and conclusive proof that Caritas Christi will be a participant in state subsidized abortions.”

Catholic Action League Executive Director C. J. Doyle stated: “This is the fourth time since February 26th that the Caritas/Centene partnership has indicated that abortion will be part of its Commonwealth Care contract. The question of Caritas Christi’s involvement in practices which violate fundamental Catholic moral teaching has now been answered repeatedly and definitively. Four officials of Caritas Christi serve on the board of a health maintenance organization (jointly founded by Caritas and its partner Celtic Group) which will refer women to Planned Parenthood for taxpayer funded abortions, as part of a government program which requires abortion coverage.”

“It is now unmistakably clear that the Archdiocese of Boston has spent the last three months cynically misleading Catholics in this controversy. The time is long overdue for Cardinal O’Malley to apologize for his assertion of March 6th that ‘Caritas Christi will never do anything to promote abortions, to direct any patients to providers of abortion or in any way to participate in actions that are contrary to Catholic moral teaching and anyone who suggests otherwise is doing a great disservice to the Catholic Church.’ ”

NEWS RELEASE

FRIDAY, MAY 22, 2009

CONTACT: C. J. DOYLE
 (781) 251-9739 

CATHOLIC ACTION LEAGUE CRITICIZES HOLY CROSS FOR HONORING SENATOR ROBERT CASEY

The Catholic Action League of Massachusetts today criticized the College of the Holy Cross – the Bay State’s oldest Jesuit institution -- for conferring an honorary degree on U.S. Senator Robert P. Casey Jr. (D - Pennsylvania). Casey was also featured as the principal speaker at this morning's commencement exercises, which were held on the Holy Cross campus in Worcester.

Casey is a supporter of birth control, Plan B / the morning-after pill, the public funding of contraception, and a mandate for contraceptive coverage in employer-sponsored group health insurance. The Most Reverend Joseph F. Martino, the Bishop of Scranton, has rebuked Casey for voting to rescind the Mexico City Policy, which had prohibited the use of American tax dollars to fund organizations which promote abortion abroad. Ostensibly a pro-life Democrat, Casey supports the exceptions commonly endorsed by Republican politicians, which would allow abortion in cases of rape, incest and alleged peril to the life of the mother.

The Catholic Action League called the invitation to Casey by Holy Cross “one more example of the infidelity and indifference to Catholic moral teaching that has become characteristic of Jesuit higher education in the United States.”

Catholic Action League Executive Director C. J. Doyle stated: “After the deaths of more than 50 million pre-born children by surgical abortion in this country since Roe v. Wade, and the deaths of countless others by abortifacient contraception, one would think that Holy Cross could find as its commencement speaker a political figure who is authentically and unambiguously pro-life. One suspects that the invitation to Robert Casey is an accurate indicator of the dissent from Catholic doctrine which pervades the college's administration, theology faculty, and Jesuit community. The message which Casey's commencement honor sends to Holy Cross students is that Humanae Vitae is irrelevant, political power trumps Catholic morality, and that personal and professional success is more important than adherence to divine and natural law.”

“The choice of Senator Robert Casey as commencement speaker and honoree was shameful and deplorable. Secular society can never be expected to take seriously Catholic opposition to abortion and contraception so long as Catholic institutions provide platforms and honors to those who compromise with the culture of death. ”

NEWS UPDATE

 

TUESDAY, MAY 19, 2009

 

CONTACT: C. J. DOYLE

(781) 251-9739

 

 

CARITAS CHRISTI / CENTENE CONTRACT
ON TRACK FOR JULY 1st

 

In the continuing controversy over the decision of Caritas Christi Health Care - a network of six Catholic hospitals affiliated with the Boston Archdiocese - to seek a state contract which will require abortion referrals, there have been several new developments. 

 

  • On May 4th, 2009, CeltiCare Health Plan of Massachusetts announced that Richard D. Lynch had been appointed Plan President and Chief Executive Officer. Based in their new corporate office in Brighton, CeltiCare is a managed care organization that will provide health insurance to Massachusetts residents enrolled in the Commonwealth Care program.  CeltiCare’s participation in the Commonwealth Care contract comes as a result of the partnership between Caritas Christi and the Centene Corporation, whose wholly-owned subsidiary, the Celtic Insurance Company, is the parent organization of CeltiCare.

 

  • In response to an inquiry from the Catholic Action League, Brian Delaney, Director of Communications for CeltiCare, stated on May 11th that “CeltiCare’s program has been approved by the Massachusetts Connector Authority.  Under the contract, CeltiCare will be operational July 1, 2009 and will meet all the State’s requirements under the Commonwealth Care program, including providing family planning services as appropriate.” Assertions to the contrary by Cardinal O’Malley notwithstanding, this is the third time since February 26th that a representative of the Caritas/Centene partnership has affirmed that the Commonwealth Care contract will include abortion and contraception.

 

  • It has now been more than two months since Cardinal O'Malley requested an advisory opinion on the contract from the National Catholic Bioethics Center.  On May 14, Fr. Tadeuscz Pacholczyk, Director of Education for NCBC, stated that “The NCBC is not able to comment regarding on-going, confidential consultations. Your best source of information would probably be the Archdiocese or perhaps Caritas Christi.”  Later, when asked if the opinion had been given to the Archdiocese, another NCBC official told the League “I’m not at liberty to say”.

 

  • On May 3rd, at the annual convention of the Massachusetts Knights of Columbus, the State Council repudiated a resolution by former District Deputy Joseph B. Craven Jr. opposing the Caritas contract with Commonwealth Care. The State Council ruled the measure “rejected” and “out of order”, an impossibility under parliamentary procedure. State Officers claimed that an unnamed Archdiocesan official (reportedly one of the Cardinal’s two secretaries), stated that the resolution contained unspecified factual errors. Deacon John Baniukiewicz then told assembled delegates that “We can’t be more Catholic than the Church”, and “We can’t tell the Cardinal what to do.” The measure was defeated.

 

Catholic Action League Executive Director C. J. Doyle made the following comment: “It is clear that the Caritas/Centene partnership is proceeding with all deliberate speed towards the July 1st start-up date of the Commonwealth Care contract, while the Archdiocese continues its efforts to suppress Catholic opposition to the arrangement. Given the prolonged uncertainty about the nature, or even the public availability of the NCBC advisory opinion, one might reasonably surmise that the Cardinal’s request for their involvement was a public relations tactic intended to buy time and diffuse pro-life opposition. Catholics need to keep the pressure up on the Archdiocese to cancel the contract, and they need to keep Rome informed.”

NEWS RELEASE

THURSDAY, MARCH 12, 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: C. J. DOYLE

CATHOLIC ACTION LEAGUE DENOUNCES CARITAS CHRISTI DEAL WITH COMMONWEALTH CARE

The Catholic Action League of Massachusetts today criticized the Archdiocesan hospital network, Caritas Christi, for accepting a state contract, in conjunction with the Centene Corporation, to provide Commonwealth Care health insurance, which includes abortion coverage. The Commonwealth Health Insurance Connector Authority Board awarded the contract this morning after Caritas/Centene assured the panel that women will have “ready access” to timely family planning services such as abortion, sterilization and contraception.

The Catholic Action League called the contract “a significant defeat for the pro-life movement, inflicted not by secular society, but by the Catholic Church in Boston.”

Catholic Action League Executive Director C. J. Doyle stated: “What remains of the Catholic character of Caritas Christi has now been fatally compromised. The partnership in which Caritas Christi is one of the two principals will provide ‘ready access’ to abortion, which the Catholic religion condemns as ‘an abominable crime’. ”

“It is now clear that the Archdiocese of Boston has spent the last week cynically misdirecting Catholics and the general public with empty assurances that Caritas Christi would not collaborate in abortion. If a woman with a Commonwealth Care card walks into a Caritas Christi hospital seeking an abortion, she will be directed back to her health plan -- the Caritas/Centene partnership -- which will not only arrange for the procedure, but if necessary will provide transportation to the facility which performs it.”

“With Caritas Christi now thoroughly embedded in the culture of death, we are now facing the end, in Massachusetts at least, of Catholic medical resistance to abortion and contraception. This tragic state of affairs is the personal responsibility of the Archbishop of Boston, Cardinal Sean O'Malley, who not only failed to stop this contract, but who endorsed it while making unsupportable assertions implausibly denying what everyone else knew -- that the contract required participation in the deliberate killing of innocent unborn children.”

NEWS RELEASE

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11, 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: C. J. DOYLE 

CARITAS CHRISTI STONEWALLS ON ABORTION

The controversy is growing over the decision of Caritas Christi to seek a state contract as a health insurance provider in a program which includes abortion coverage. A story by Michael Paulson in today's Boston Globe contains revealing information about the refusal of Caritas Christi to either specifically affirm Catholic moral teaching or candidly explain the provisions of the Commonwealth Care contract.

Paulson wrote: “Caritas has repeatedly refused to answer questions from the Globe about the proposal. Yesterday, the hospital network declined to say what services are prohibited under Catholic teaching, how the Caritas hospitals currently respond to patients who seek such prohibited services, or how Caritas proposes to handle requests for such services under the Centene deal. The state contract requires that the venture provide coverage for abortion.”

Paulson also wrote on the Globe website today: “…we have repeatedly attempted to get Caritas to explain how the arrangement would work. Caritas, which has at least two communications people in-house and a crisis p.r. consultant too, has thus far refused to offer any explanation, not only of the proposal, but also of current practice at the chain’s six hospitals.”

The Catholic Action League called the Globe's findings “a startling indictment, from an unexpected source, confirming our worst fears.”

Catholic Action League Executive Director C. J. Doyle stated: “Everything we need to know about the Caritas Christi/Centene Corporation partnership and its deal with Commonwealth Care was apparent in this morning's Globe. Caritas, which refuses to release the names of its board of governors, won't even publicly say how it handles requests for abortions now -- without the requirements of a state contract.”

“If Caritas actually intended to accept tax dollars while evading state demands for abortion coverage, every voice on the political left would be raised against it -- in the media, in the Legislature, and among the advocacy groups. Instead, we have heard nothing but silence from the usual adversaries of the Church."

“It staggers the imagination that anyone can seriously believe the assertions by the Archdiocese of Boston about Caritas and abortion. The only solution is for Caritas to withdraw from the contract."

March 11, 2009

Letters to the Editor

The Boston Globe
P.O. Box 55819
Boston, MA 02205-5819

To the Editor:

Alleviating poverty is a laudable goal consistent with Catholic principles of social justice, but it has little to do with the current controversy over Caritas Christi (Leading theologians back Caritas insurance venture, 3/11/2009).

As Commonwealth Care is a government funded program, whose proposed contract has received bids from several healthcare providers, no low-income person will be adversely affected should Caritas Christi decline to participate. The real issue is whether a Church-affiliated institution should compromise core values in order to partake in a state program subsidized by tax dollars.

Sincerely,

C. J. Doyle,

Executive Director

The Catholic Action League of Massachusetts

CONTACTS Relating to CARITAS SCANDAL

Ralph de la Torre, MD, President/CEO
Caritas Christi Health Care
77 Warren Street
Boston, MA 02135
617-789-3000, CCR.Webmaster@CaritasChristi.org 

James Karam, Chairman, Board of Governors
Caritas Christi Health Care
JimK@firstbristol.com 

Most Rev. Pietro Sambi, Apostolic Nuncio:
NuntiusUSA@NuntiusUSA.org (Corrected)

Holy Father: BenedictXVI@Vatican.va 

Cardinal Sean O'Malley's receptionist: SDiago@RCAB.org 

REV. TADEUSZ PACHOLCZYK, Ph.D (Nat. Catholic Bioethics) Tad.grd.nsc@aya.yale.edu 

JOHN M. HAAS DrJohnHaas@aol.com 

REV. ALFRED CIOFFI, S.T.D., Ph.D. ACioffi@ncbcenter.org 

MARIE T. HILLIARD, R.N., Ph.D., J.C.L. MHilliard@ncbcenter.org

ACTION ALERT!!!

CONTACT: C.J. Doyle

TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2009

On Thursday March 12th, the Massachusetts Health Connector Authority -- the state agency responsible for the Commonwealth Care Health program -- will award a contract to a new Commonwealth Care health insurance provider. As of last week, the low bidder was the Caritas Christi/Centene Corporation partnership.

The Health Connector Authority has stated: “All health plans in Commonwealth Care offer the same health benefits.” Those benefits include abortion - with a $50 co-pay.

Assertions to the contrary notwithstanding, neither the Archdiocese of Boston nor Caritas Christi have the power to arbitrarily exempt themselves from the provisions of the law or the requirements of the Health Connector Authority. The only solution consistent with Catholic respect for the sanctity of innocent human life is for Cardinal O’Malley to insist that Caritas Christi immediately withdraw from the Commonwealth Care contract.

Please call Cardinal Sean O’Malley at 617-782-2544, and/or e-mail him at SDiago@RCAB.org and urge him to insist that Caritas Christi withdraw from the Commonwealth Care contract. This is the only way that the Caritas Christi hospital network can avoid collaboration with abortion, sterilization and contraception.

Also, please contact the Apostolic Nuncio, and ask him to apprise our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI of this grave scandal which is afflicting the Church in Boston. The Apostolic Nuncio is the Most Reverend Pietro Sambi. He can be reached at 202-333-7121, and at his e-mail address: NuntiusUSA@NuntiusUSA.org. 

Catholic Action League of Massachusetts

C. J. Doyle, Executive Director

NEWS RELEASE

MONDAY, MARCH 9, 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: C. J. DOYLE

CARDINAL O’MALLEY AND CARITAS CHRISTI

In the growing controversy over the state contract which would require the Catholic hospital network, Caritas Christi, to engage in abortion referrals, Sean Cardinal O'Malley made the following statement in his blog on Friday, March 6th: “There has been a significant amount of public dialogue concerning my statement yesterday (as copied below) about the proposed arrangement involving Caritas Christi Health Care with the Commonwealth Care program. To be perfectly clear, Caritas Christi would never do anything to promote abortions, to direct any patients to providers of abortion or in any way to participate in actions that are contrary to Catholic moral teaching and anyone who suggests otherwise is doing a great disservice to the Catholic Church.”

Catholic Action League Executive Director C. J. Doyle made the following comments: “Sadly, the Cardinal’s assertions are directly contradicted by the statement issued by the Caritas Christi/Centene Corporation partnership on February 26th, which said it ‘will contract with providers, both in and out of the Caritas network, to ensure access to all services required by the Authority, including confidential family planning services.’ That statement has never been withdrawn.”

“The Health Connector Authority, which is the Massachusetts state agency which administers the Commonwealth Care program, has stated that: ‘All health plans in Commonwealth Care offer the same health benefits.’ Those benefits include abortion - with a $50 co-pay.”

“It appears that the Caritas Christi/Centene Corporation partnership was established as a fig leaf to give Caritas Christi plausible deniability while seeking a state contract which would require them to violate Catholic moral teaching. The only solution consistent with Catholic respect for the sanctity of innocent human life is for Cardinal O’Malley to insist that Caritas Christi immediately withdraw from the Commonwealth Care contract.”

NEWS RELEASE

THURSDAY, MARCH 5, 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: C. J. DOYLE

CATHOLIC ACTION LEAGUE CRITICIZES CARDINAL’S SUPPORT FOR CARITAS CHRISTI

The Catholic Action League of Massachusetts today criticized the statement issued this afternoon by Sean Cardinal O'Malley, Archbishop of Boston, endorsing the decision of Caritas Christi to participate in a state contract which would require it to make referrals for abortions and contraceptive services. On March 27, it was revealed that Caritas Christi, the network of six Catholic hospitals affiliated with the Archdiocese of Boston, had formed a partnership with the St. Louis-based Centene Corporation to secure a contract for state subsidized health insurance for 163,000 low income adults in Massachusetts, as part of the Commonwealth Care program. That same day the Caritas/Centene partnership issued a statement saying that it “will contract with providers, both in and out of the Caritas network, to ensure access to all services required by the Authority, including confidential family planning services.”

In his statement, Cardinal O'Malley said: “…I want to confirm for the Catholic community and the wider interested public that Caritas Christi Health Care has assured me that it will not be engaged in any procedures nor draw any benefits from any relationship which violate the Church's moral teaching as found in the Ethical and Religious Directives [of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops].”

The Catholic Action League characterized the Cardinal’s statement as “a shameful betrayal of the pro-life cause and a shocking failure of episcopal leadership.”

Catholic Action League Executive Director C. J. Doyle stated: “It is impossible to reconcile fidelity to Catholic teaching with even remote cooperation in abortion. The Cardinal’s carefully parsed statement evidently reflects the growing and problematic influence of Father Bryan Hehir, Archdiocesan Secretary for Health and Social Services, rather than the traditional pro-life principles espoused in the past by Sean O'Malley. The Cardinal refuses to acknowledge in his statement what Caritas has already admitted - that it will contract with other providers in making referrals for abortions.”

“Catholics need to apprise the Holy See and the Apostolic Nuncio in Washington of this breach of trust by the Archdiocese of Boston, and of the continuing determination of pro-life Catholics to oppose this disgraceful capitulation to the culture of death.”

NEWS RELEASE

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 4, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: C. J. DOYLE

CATHOLIC ACTION LEAGUE CONDEMNS CARITAS CHRISTI ON ABORTION REFERRALS

The Catholic Action League of Massachusetts today condemned Caritas Christi Health Care, a network of six Catholic hospitals affiliated with the Archdiocese of Boston, for bidding on a state contract that would require it to provide referrals for abortions, sterilizations, and contraceptive services. Caritas has formed a partnership with the St. Louis based Centene Corporation, called the Commonwealth Family Health Plan, which is the low bidder on a contract to provide state-subsidized health insurance to 163,000 low-income adults in the Bay State’s Commonwealth Care program. On Friday, the Caritas-Centene partnership issued a statement indicating that it “will contract with providers, both in and out of the Caritas network, to ensure access to all services required by the Authority, including confidential family planning services.”

The Catholic Action League called the proposal “an appalling betrayal of Catholic principles and a grave scandal.”

Catholic Action League Executive Director C. J. Doyle stated: “By accepting this contract, which entails material cooperation with evil, Caritas will fatally compromise its Catholic identity, undermine Church teaching on the sanctity and dignity of innocent human life, and deprive the Catholic community in Massachusetts of access to an authentic Catholic healthcare system, untainted by collaboration with what Pope John Paul II rightly called ‘the culture of death’.”

“Unlike the law requiring Massachusetts hospitals to dispense so-called emergency contraception, (which at least four out of the six Caritas hospitals now comply with), this proposed contract represents not a government mandate, but a voluntary surrender, for financial benefit, of the Catholic moral standards enshrined in the mission statement of Caritas Christi. Moreover, the timing of this improvident decision is horrendous. Just as the Obama Administration is revisiting the issue of conscience clauses for pro-life Catholic doctors and nurses, Caritas Christi is sending the wrong message that cooperation with abortion is permissible for Catholic institutions.”

“It is up to the Archbishop of Boston, Sean Cardinal O’Malley, whose delegate Fr. Brian Hehir, serves on the board of Caritas Christi, to exercise episcopal leadership and recall Caritas to its Catholic mission, identity, and integrity. This contract must be abandoned.”

NEWS RELEASE

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2008

CONTACT: C.J. DOYLE

CATHOLIC ACTION LEAGUE CONDEMNS BOSTON COLLEGE
FOR DEAL WITH VICTORIA’S SECRET

The Catholic Action League of Massachusetts today criticized Jesuit administered Boston College for entering into a business relationship with Victoria’s Secret, the self-described distributor of the “world’s sexiest brands” in women’s lingerie, sleepwear and swimsuits. The merchandising arrangement, which allows Victoria’s Secret to sell university themed clothing at thirty-three stores, was disclosed in a story by reporter Christine McConville in this morning’s Boston Herald.

The Catholic Action League called the deal “disgraceful and appalling, but not surprising.”

Catholic Action League Executive Director C.J. Doyle stated: “As a nominally Catholic institution, Boston College has unconditionally surrendered to secular culture. Instead of upholding Catholic standards of decency, purity and modesty, BC has decided to make money by striking a deal with a company which distributes salacious clothing and which, in its advertising, openly appeals to prurient interests. At Boston College, Catholic principles always seem to come in a poor second to university marketing and fundraising.”

“This also reveals a callous contempt for Catholic sensibilities and a complete indifference to what remains of the university’s Catholic identity. At a time when our society is immersed in sensuality, a commercial agreement between a Catholic university and a company like Victoria’s Secret is offensive to Christian values and sends the wrong message to Boston College students. BC alumni and Catholic donors need to make known their revulsion at this outrage to university President Reverend William P. Leahy, SJ. The larger and enduring issue here is why the Society of Jesus, its New England Province, and the Archdiocese of Boston continue to tolerate the unrelenting scandals of Boston College.”

Catholic Action League Executive Director C. J. Doyle is an alumnus of Boston College.

NEWS RELEASE

MONDAY, AUGUST 18, 2008

CONTACT: C.J. DOYLE

CATHOLIC ACTION LEAGUE JOINS REFERENDUM
CAMPAIGN TO RESTORE MARRIAGE LAW

The Catholic Action League of Massachusetts today announced that it is joining a referendum campaign to restore a 1913 state law which had prohibited out-of-state couples from marrying in Massachusetts if their attempted marriages were illegal in their home states.

Under pressure from the homosexual lobby, the Massachusetts Legislature repealed the law in July. Governor Deval Patrick signed the repeal measure on July 31. At the last minute, an emergency preamble was added to the repeal bill, putting it into effect as soon as it was signed and preventing it from being suspended until a referendum could be held.

As pro-family groups, including the Catholic Action League, pointed out at the time, the repeal measure will enable homosexual and lesbian couples to enter Massachusetts, contract civil marriages, and then return to their home states to challenge existing marriage laws, thus inviting state court decisions which would invent a right to same gender marriage.

Under Article XLVIII of the Massachusetts Constitution, citizens have 30 days after a law takes effect to petition the Secretary of the Commonwealth to hold a referendum. Ten taxpayers did so on August 13. If the signatures of 33,000 registered voters can then be collected by the end of October, a referendum on the repeal measure will be held during the general election of November, 2010. The campaign to repeal the repeal is being spearheaded by Brian Camenker of Mass Resistance.

The Catholic Action League said the referendum would “finally let the people of Massachusetts vote on traditional marriage, a right that was denied to them when the pandering careerists of the Massachusetts Legislature, on June 14, 2007, refused to send to the 2008 ballot an initiative amendment which would have restored marriage as the union of one man and one woman.”

Catholic Action League Executive Director C. J. Doyle stated: “Unlike a state constitutional amendment, a referendum does not require approval by a Legislature subservient to the homosexual special interest. Brian Camenker is to be commended for his courage, foresight, and resolve. Like Roe v. Wade, the Goodridge decision will never attain legitimacy. This issue will not be settled until traditional marriage is fully restored.”

Contact the Catholic Action League