Catholic patients "denied access" to chaplains

Apostle1.com's Editorial Opinion Note:  What some have said about the incident described below is no different that what has been happening to those of other faiths, especially Orthodox Catholic clergy in many North American hospitals and care institutions.  Except, the one's doing the discriminating and act would seem to appear is the Roman Jurisdiction's own clergy who serve as head or lead Chaplains of either the hospital or institution and who have acted in a manner to exclude and prevent clergy from other faiths to enter in, it has been opined....  It has been expressed that the opinion of some observers is that the Wolf is crying foul, "Wolf, wolf," said another... and another said, "What goes around, comes around!"

The problem posed as described in the article is the government's "control" over who does or does not enter.  Again... that is exactly what many Roman clergy in control of the chaplaincy programs at many health care institutions are doing when they deny access to patients by Chaplains or Clergy of other Orthodox Catholic jurisdictions.  This is one of the many means by which Roman Clergy make determinations as to whose is or is not "Catholic" as though the Roman Church had exclusivisity over who is or is not "Catholic".  The Roman Church was not the "Original" or "First" of "Catholicism"... they had been a part of that which was the true Christian Church, Catholic, Universal.  When the Roman Jurisdiction of the Catholic Church separated itself from the roots of Catholicism which today is called "Orthodox"... they departed form the roots of Christianity itself.

By making these statements of TRUTH, some feel that we are making a "hate" statement which is not true.  This is the twisting of truth into a lie and a lie into truth!  Truth and historical fact do go hand-in-hand... and if such is to be considered as "hate" then those making the claim about another (ourselves)... are themselves very hateful and spiteful by their having departed from the TRUTH of the Life and Teachings of Jesus Christ.

All hospitals, all health care providers, all lead or head chaplains should re-evaluate their practices which do discriminate in part, if not in whole because the ones that suffer is the patient who is one of God's children and the sin for such action to deny the clergyman and the patients from what is proper according to their faith, is to commit a sin which is upon the chaplain and hospital or health care staff...

The Roman Jurisdiction's Catholic Bishop Julian Porteous, rector of the Roman's Sydney's Seminary of the Good Shepherd, has expressed concern that privacy safeguards are forcing hospitals and other medical institutions to deny chaplains access to members of their faith who are sick.

Bishop Porteous told the (A Roman Jurisdiction's publication) Catholic Weekly that confusion and ignorance prevail about the interpretation and effects of the Health Records and Information Privacy Act 2002 (NSW) which seeks to protect the individual's right to privacy in Australia.

Previously, Roman chaplains knew those patients in the hospital who needed prayers or a visit, and those they could refer to other community clergy who minister to the sick and the dying. Priests would be provided by hospital staff with a list of patients with their religious affiliations. But due to new privacy legislation, today, like travelling salesman, many have to make "cold calls" to fulfil their job.

Bishop Porteous, the liaison bishop to the Civil Chaplains Advisory Committee, says a change in the phrasing of the religious identity question in medical records is denying chaplains access to Catholic patients.

"The practice of asking patients their religion on admission has been changed to asking them if they want to see a minister of faith, which confuses people," Bishop Porteous said.

"People then end up not knowing if there is a Catholic chaplain in the hospital," he told Weekly.

Fr Harry Payne, chaplain at Sydney's Royal Prince Alfred Hospital at Camperdown, said many clergy in the archdiocese have been affected by the implementation of the ruling.

"I have a good relationship at the hospital but I know of a chaplain whose workload went from 150 patients a day to three, when the hospital adopted a new administration policy," he said. "In that period, an old person died in the intensive care unit and was denied spiritual support and the last rites.

"As chaplains it is very frustrating for us that some hospitals choose to misread the Health Department's regulations."

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