Catholics Just Say No To Merger, Appeal To Vatican

A group of Catholics has appealed to the Pope to try to stop the acquisition of Caritas Christi Health Care by the New York equity firm, Cerberus Capital Management, the Boston Globe reports.

Even though both Caritas and Cerberus have said that the religious identity of the hospital chain will remain in tact, a "stewardship agreement they negotiated with the Archdiocese of Boston would allow the hospital chain’s new owners to terminate its religious affiliation, if it became materially burdensome, in exchange for a $25 million donation to a charity chosen by the archdiocese," the Globe says. That provision, in particular, has angered the anti-merger group:

In their letter to the pope, the Coalition to Save Catholic Health Care likened the $25 million referenced in the stewardship agreement to the bribe that, according to the Gospel of John, Judas Iscariot took for betraying Jesus.

“Given the threats to human life . . . this is anathema,’’ the group wrote. “The $25 million can only be likened to 25 pieces of silver.’’