In the view of the nation's Roman Catholic bishops, politicians who belong to the church but depart from its teachings on abortion should be denied honors from a Catholic institution.
Unless, some would say, you happen to be a national hero of Sept. 11 who has raised a lot of money for a church-affiliated hospital.
That would be the former mayor of New York, Rudolph W. Giuliani, an abortion rights supporter, whose name will grace a new $25 million trauma center at St. Vincent's Hospital Manhattan. Ground was broken last week.
The hospital is a branch of St. Vincent Catholic Medical Centers, a system of eight hospitals, four nursing homes and a large home-health care agency, overseen by the Diocese of Brooklyn and the Sisters of Charity. Ultimate authority over the complex rests in the hands of Brooklyn Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio and Sister Dorothy Metz, president of the Sisters of Charity.
Like all Catholic medical institutions, it does not provide abortions, contraception or other procedures that violate Catholic teaching.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/05/nyregion/05catholic.html