HHS Sees the Light, Allows Catholic Hospital to Keep Its Sanctuary Candle Lit
HHS and its subagency, the Centers for Medicaid & Medicare Services (CMS), have dropped their attempt to force Saint Francis Health System in Oklahoma to extinguish the sanctuary candle in its chapel.
The issue first arose with the Joint Commission (TJC), a hospital accreditor through which Saint Francis is able to gain the ability to serve Medicare, Medicaid, and Children’s Health Insurance Plan patients. After being unable to address the issue with the accreditor, Saint Francis had its appeal for a reasonable accommodation waiver rejected by CMS.
Saint Francis then sent a pre-litigation letter Wednesday through their legal representative, Becket, to both agencies and the accreditor, claiming a violation of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. On Thursday, representatives from CMS and the hospital met and the agency decided to provide the waiver.
“This waiver is contingent upon the hospital providing a plan of correction to TJC that includes taking some simple, appropriate steps to mitigate fire risks,” explained a CMS official in a letter to the hospital. “Once these agreed upon actions have been implemented, CMS will consider this particular matter closed.”
In a Friday statement to National Review, Becket senior counsel Lori Windham, who is representing the hospital, said “it’s a good day when a federal agency sees the light.”
“This should be a reminder that religious freedom is the law. Service to God and the community go hand-in-hand for Saint Francis, and they will continue that service,” Windham added.
#BREAKING: The government has seen the light and has abandoned its attempt to force an Oklahoma hospital to blow out a small candle or stop serving elderly, disabled, and low-income patients. @HHSGov has told Saint Francis that it can keep its living flame—a sacred candle housed… pic.twitter.com/1bkpjqi19M
— LoriWindham (@LoriWindham1) May 5, 2023
The sanctuary candle with a living flame had been approved in the past by the local fire marshal. However, this last year, HHS took a different interpretation of the fire-safety regulation, citing a rule having to do with open flames in patients room or near medical equipment.
Windham explained in a previous interview that there isn’t a patient room nearby and the candle is not near any medical equipment. “It’s behind two glass candleholders and has a brass top on top of it,” she said.
The Religious Freedom Restoration Act prohibits the federal government from imposing substantial burdens on religious exercise, absent a compelling interest that is furthered through the least restrictive means available.
Windham and her colleagues at Becket were confident they had an airtight case. In the letter they sent earlier this week, the group argued it would constitute a substantial burden on the hospital to choose between worship and serving the elderly and the poor. The living flame is required because the chapel offers the Eucharist.
The letter said that the federal government will fail to prove they had a compelling interest as flames are allowed elsewhere and federal regulators had never brought up concerns before. The letter also noted the government hasn’t considered pursuing less restrictive actions at that point, instead threatening severe financial consequences.
