If I, a Catholic, get sick, do I have to go to a Catholic hospital?
No, it is not necessary for a Catholic to choose a Catholic hospital. Usually, however, there may be some distinct advantages in a Catholic hospital, such as better pastoral care and counseling, more opportunities for prayer, the presence of the Blessed Sacrament in the hospital chapel, better counseling and pastoral care for family members, and, most of all, observance of the ethical and religious directives of the Catholic Church in the art and science of medicine in such places.
Reprinted from December
24, 1998