Canberra, Australia, Oct 30, 2009 / 20:25 pm
The Australian Capital Territory Government’s bid to buy Calvary Public Hospital in Canberra could endanger other public hospitals run by religious organizations, Archbishop of Sydney Cardinal George Pell has said. He has also asserted that anti-Christian motives may be driving the proposal.
The cardinal gave his full support to Archbishop of Canberra and Goulburn Mark Coleridge, who opposes the sale of the 250-bed Catholic-run hospital.
According to the Archdiocese of Sydney, Cardinal Pell said the motives behind the effort to buy the hospital, which is also a leading teaching hospital, appear to be ideologically driven by anti-Christian elements in the ACT’s Labour Government.
The ACT Government, which oversees the capital area of Canberra within New South Wales, offered $77 million to hospital owners Little Company of Mary Health Care (LCMHC). It claimed the takeover would boost investment in the hospital and streamline services.