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The sight of a crane lifting a crucifix from the front entrance of Calvary Hospital in Canberra has ignited fury among Catholics and other Christian groups across Australia.
The controversial crucifix removal came after the ACT government’s contentious compulsory acquisition of the facility, following a bitter legal battle with the Catholic Church over ownership.
Prominent Christian activist and National Director of the Family First Party, Lyle Shelton, expressed his outrage on social media, drawing a parallel between the act and the actions of communist China.
In a tweet on Sunday, Shelton wrote, “The forced removal of the cross of Christ from a Christian-owned hospital compulsorily acquired by a hostile secularist government…
“These are the actions of a totalitarian regime, the likes of which exist in Beijing, not normally associated with Canberra. Time to wake up!”
Archbishop Christopher Prowse of the Canberra and Goulburn Archdiocese also condemned the removal of the hospital’s main cross, labelling it as a “totalitarian” act.
He remarked, “The very first thing a totalitarian government does when it seizes Christian assets…they take down the crucifix.”
Prowse added that the timing of the removal, which occurred on a Sunday, the day of Christian gatherings, only added to the sense of betrayal.
Nevertheless, on Monday, the ACT government refuted claims that it had ordered the cross’s removal, asserting that a Catholic agency which had previously managed the hospital made the decision and timing.
ACT Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith said, “That was entirely a decision for Calvary Health Care… any decision around any of those items, when and how they were removed, was entirely a decision for Calvary.”
Later, a spokesperson for the agency confirmed that they had arranged and funded the removal of the cross as part of the transition process.
The spokesperson stated that other items of “heritage significance to Calvary,” including a statue of Mary, had also been relocated from the hospital grounds.
The ACT government officially concluded the takeover of Calvary Hospital, now renamed Northside Hospital, with 1,700 staff members now employed by Canberra Health Services.
The ruling coalition of Labor and the Greens pushed through legislation in May to enforce the acquisition of hospital lands, prompting the Catholic Church, which had held a 120-year lease on the facility, to mount a legal challenge.
However, the ACT Supreme Court dismissed the church’s claims in June.
Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith said that the takeover aimed to improve healthcare services and align the hospital with the rest of the ACT health system.
“We need that land to invest $1 billion in a new north-side hospital…a single networked hospital provider is the most efficient and effective system.”
Critics of the takeover allege that it is part of an agenda to introduce euthanasia to the Territory, as voluntary assisted dying is currently under consideration.
Additionally, there are claims that the acquisition was driven by a desire to expand abortion services at the hospital.
In April, a government inquiry recommended that health authorities exert pressure on the hospital to offer “full reproductive health services in accordance with human rights.”
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