(LifeSiteNews) — The bishop of Spokane, Washington is urging his fellow bishops to “confront” Catholic hospitals providing sex-change operations and similar treatments for children.
In remarks shared with the National Catholic Register this week, Bishop Thomas Daly said that the USCCB, which is meeting in Baltimore next month, should schedule a time to discuss the subject.
“I’m appalled, but sadly I’m not surprised,” he told the Register. “As bishops, I think we need to confront Catholic health care, because they are violating their mission.”
Daly was responding to a report published by Do No Harm, which compiled U.S. hospitals data from 2019 to 2023 on sex-change surgeries and related treatments for children.
EWTN News had found that among the facilities that were listed in the report, nearly 150 were Catholic hospitals, and that those hospitals had conducted 150 sex-change surgeries for minors and provided puberty blockers or other chemical treatments to 380 underage boys and girls.
The Register had sent a questionnaire to various U.S. bishops about the findings and Daly, along with Bishop Robert Barron, were among those who responded.
Bishop Daly has consistently been a defender of the Church’s moral teachings. In 2022, he supported San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone’s banning of pro-abortion Democrat Nancy Pelosi from Holy Communion. He likewise blamed bishops who “want to compromise” on “fundamental principles of morality” for why the Church is divided.
His Excellency has also said that the rise of LGBT ideology in Catholic education is “tragic and sinful” and that gender ideology should have “no place” in schools.
At the same time, Catholic Charities of Eastern Washington under his jurisdiction has a public record of supporting “woke” ideology, including forcing needy families to show proof of having received the abortion-tainted COVID shot — which Daly had also promoted at the time — before receiving food.
In 2020, the group’s president and CEO, Rob McCann, declared in a YouTube message to staff and clients that the Catholic Church is “racist” because Jesus was “white.” He also said the organization supports Black Lives Matter.
Daly subsequently met with McCann to address “concerns” he had with “a number of statements he made” in the video. McCann then published “clarifications” on the Catholic Charities of Eastern Washington website, which Daly encouraged everyone to read.
But just this month, Catholic Charities of Eastern Washington, which is still under McCann’s leadership, scandalously called on its Facebook followers to “come out” and publicly tell the world about their sexual orientation. The group was celebrating the pro-LGBT “National Coming Out Day.”
“National Coming Out Day is a day for celebration and support. Share your stories, encouragement, and messages of allyship. Let’s create a welcoming space for all,” the group’s post reads.
The USCCB issued a set of guidelines in 2023 banning trans surgeries and similar practices, calling them “not morally justified” because they do not “respect the fundamental order of the human person as an intrinsic unity of body and soul, with a body that is sexually differentiated.”
The USCCB will meet from November 11-14, with November 12-13 livestreamed on its website. Cardinal Christophe Pierre, Papal Nuncio to the United States, and Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio of the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services and the USCCB president will address the gathering, which is expected to discuss implementing the Vatican’s Masonic-themed Dignitas Infinita document; lay ministries; Francis’ encyclical on the environment Laudato Si; immigration; liturgical reforms, and more.