Religion and health care: What role does the Catholic Church play in Irish hospitals?

IRELAND
The Journal

THE PLANNED MOVE of the National Maternity Hospital to St Vincent’s, a site owned by the Sisters of Charity, has opened up a new discussion about religion and health care in Ireland.

The situation of religious orders providing health care services is not unique to Ireland – the Catholic Church is the largest non-government provider of health care services in the world….

The proposed deal for the new National Maternity Hospital would see the Sisters of Charity owning the facility in Dublin 4 as it would be providing the land at no cost.

There has been strong criticism of the financial deal, with objectors pointing out that the Sisters of Charity still owe €3 million to the redress scheme for survivors of Magdalene Laundries, which it ran along with three other congregations.

Almost 100,000 people have signed a petition which demands an apology from the Sisters of Charity and that it pays its share of the redress scheme.

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