Mexico City, Mexico, Feb 26, 2009 / 11:57 am
The Archbishop of Mexico City, Cardinal Norberto Rivera Carrera, has complained that priests and extraordinary ministers of Communion are not being allowed to enter public hospitals in the Mexican capital, in violation of the right of patients to receive spiritual attention.
“If ministers are not given the permission to care for patients in hospitals it is a violation of human rights. It needs to be brought before the Human Rights Commission of Mexico City, which should issue recommendations to the hospital. This cannot continue!” the cardinal said.
Cardinal Rivera said he learned of the situation when one his parish priests was not allowed to enter a hospital in the city of Cuauhtemoc.
“They do give us access in cases of patients who are gravely ill, but in cases where patients request our presence and want to receive Communion or Confession we have not been given access for more than six months because of complaints from non-Catholics,” Father Gilberto Chávez Flores told reporters.