OTTAWA, Ontario (LifeSiteNews) — Local Catholics are outraged after news that The Ottawa Hospital will no longer be offering daily Mass.
The Ottawa Hospital plans to end their daily Catholic masses, instead replacing them with increased bedside spiritual care, according to internal emails published in a September 25 report by the Catholic Register.
The cancellation of daily mass will mean the hospital can focus on “providing spiritual care where it is most needed – at the bedside – while continuing to offer exceptional and personalized services to the Catholic population,” Kristy Macdonell, the hospital’s professional practice manager of Psychosocial Services wrote in an email to the spiritual care department.
She explained that the hospital is “transitioning to a new model for delivering spiritual care services.”
While daily Mass will be cancelled, Macdonell encouraged “the creation of a calendar for special Mass events, ensuring that these important celebrations can still be attended and shared within the broader community.”
For years, The Ottawa Hospital has offered its Catholic patients access to a chapel and daily Mass so patients and visiting Catholics could offer prayers to God during their stay at the hospital.
While The Ottawa Hospital has yet to make an official announcement, concerned Catholic have shared emails from hospital staff who attempt to explain the reasoning behind the changes.
“Upon reviewing the current needs of the patients admitted to our hospital, we have noted an increase in the number of requests for bedside consultation with spiritual care, as many patients have been unable to attend a service outside of the unit,” Cameron Love, president and chief executive officer of The Ottawa Hospital, said in response to an emailed question regarding the change.
“To better align our services with the evolving needs of our patients, we are changing the way in which we deliver spiritual care services,” he claimed. “Moving forward, we will be offering greater spiritual support at the bedside, which will allow us to meet patients’ spiritual needs more personally.”
Many Catholics have taken to social media to voice their upset with The Ottawa Hospital over their new policies.
Ottawa resident John Zwicker, a Catholic father of seven, wrote, “This is appalling news. During the births of our 7 children, visits to family/friends in care & of course, frequent emerg visits, Chapel visits & Mass at #Ottawa’s @OttawaHospital was a necessity.”
This is appalling news.
During the births of our 7 children, visits to family/friends in care & of course, frequent emerg visits, Chapel visits & Mass at #Ottawa‘s @OttawaHospital was a necessity
The loss of daily Mass at the hospital is not acceptable pic.twitter.com/051MxdsTPS
— John Zwicker🇨🇦 (@JohnZwicker1) September 26, 2024
“The loss of daily Mass at the hospital is not acceptable,” he declared.