Toronto, ON October 1, 2024 – The Catholic Civil Rights League (CCRL) cannot accept the decision by administration at Ottawa General and Ottawa Civic Hospitals to remove daily Mass from both locations as reported in the Catholic Register and confirmed by our colleagues in the nation’s capital.
The assertion from hospital administration that they are transitioning to a new approach focussed on “providing spiritual care where it is most needed — at the bedside — while continuing to offer exceptional and personalized services to the Catholic population” is bizarre on several fronts.
Firstly, the Eucharist is the source and summit for Catholics and there is no form of prayer or liturgical action that supplants the primacy of the sacrifice at the altar at Holy Mass.
Secondly, Catholic chaplaincy already provides bedside visitations that matter to Catholics, especially provision of the sacrament of extreme unction, the anointing of the sick.
Thirdly, it is not for hospital administrators to decide what is best for Catholics. We will instead rely on two millennia of tradition and our irreplaceable need for Mass, the Sacraments, and intercessory prayers which cannot be provided by generic spiritual care departments.
This attempt to remove daily Mass is particularly concerning at Ottawa General, which owes its existence to the Sisters of Charity, the Grey Nuns, who founded it in 1839.
Certainly successive moves over the past 185 years were never intended to abandon Catholic patients and their families as with the current attempt by administrators to act as ecclesial authorities.
In our charity, let us pray that daily Mass will be restored at both Ottawa General and Ottawa Civic. Let us pray for the current Catholic chaplaincy and for those to whom they serve, the patients and their families.
Let us also pray for the hospital administration, that they will reverse their decision for the sake of their Catholic patients.
Finally, let us also act in another distinct way.
The League asks that you email, or call or write both hospitals requesting the return of daily Mass.
Ottawa General Hospital
Website: https://www.ottawahospital.on.ca/en/
Address: 501 Smyth Road Ottawa,
Telephone: +1 613-722-7000
CEO: Cameron Love. Biography
Ottawa Civic Hospital
Website: www.ottawahospital.on.ca
CEO: Cameron Love. Biography
Address: 1053 Carling Ave, Ottawa, ON K1Y 4E9, Canada
Phone: +1 613-798-5555
For both locations, the contact information for the spiritual care team is as follows:
Professional Practice Manager – Psychosocial Services
Kristy Macdonell
Email: krmacdonell@toh.ca
Telephone: 613-798-5555 ext. 14586
Assistant: Gloria Davis
We appeal to any of you who are able to send a donation to the CCRL by clicking here or by mailing a cheque to the CCRL at PO Box 84505, RPO Bloor West, Toronto, ON, M6S 4Z7, or by calling the office at (416) 466-8244.
About the CCRL
Catholic Civil Rights League (CCRL) (www.ccrl.ca) assists in creating conditions within which Catholic teachings can be better understood, cooperates with other organizations in defending civil rights in Canada, and opposes defamation and discrimination against Catholics on the basis of their beliefs. The CCRL was founded in 1985 as an independent lay organization with a large nationwide membership base. The CCRL is a Canadian non-profit organization entirely supported by the generosity of its members.
To donate to the CCRL, please click here.
For further information:
ccrl@ccrl.ca
416-466-8244
@CCRLtweets