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The exterior of The Ottawa Hospital (General Campus) located at 501 Smyth Rd, Ottawa, Ont.
Photo courtesy Brook Restoration
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Catholics in the nation's capital region are worried that what began as a temporary suspension of daily Mass at The Ottawa Hospital, one of the city’s prominent hospital centres, has become permanent.
Both the civic and general campuses of The Ottawa Hospital — which was founded in 1845 by Sr. Élisabeth Bruyère, founder of the Sisters of Charity of Bytown (the Grey Nuns) — are looking to prioritize bedside spiritual care over providing daily Mass offerings for patients and staff.
The Catholic Register was alerted of an impending change to the protocol by Daniel Bezalel Richardsen, a concerned local who had heard the news of the plans from his local parish priest.
In late April 2024, a sign was placed on the doors of the Civic Hospital chapel announcing that the scheduled weekday noon Mass had been “temporarily cancelled.” Before then, Catholic Mass was offered to patients of the Ottawa Hospital from Monday to Friday at noon at both the general and civic sites as well as at 4 p.m. on Saturdays at the general campus and 3:30 p.m. on Sundays at the civic campus.
The Ottawa Hospital has not released an official statement regarding the change on its website or social media platforms. However, Richardsen shared with the Register a number of emails he received from fellow concerned local Catholics which provide a glimpse into the situation as it unfolds.
An email to the spiritual care department from Kristy Macdonell, the hospital’s professional practice manager of Psychosocial Services, states that while The Ottawa Hospital is committed to being inclusive while ensuring that it meets the spiritual needs of all faiths, the team is “transitioning to a new model for delivering spiritual care services.” The approach is focused on “providing spiritual care where it is most needed — at the bedside — while continuing to offer exceptional and personalized services to the Catholic population.”
The email would go on to encourage “the creation of a calendar for special Mass events, ensuring that these important celebrations can still be attended and shared within the broader community.”
On Sept. 20, Phil Baker sent a letter to Ottawa Hospital CEO Cameron Love and two members of Hospital Psychosocial Services “to register my grave concern that daily Mass is no longer available to patients and their loved ones. One quarter of the patient population at the Civic is (Roman Catholic) and the Mass is a source of comfort and healing for patients and their families.”
Baker received an email response from Love Sept. 21. The email indicated that the unexpected cancellation of Masses was to become permanent and reflected a shift in pastoral practice and policy.
“We are changing the way in which we deliver spiritual care services,” confirmed Love.
Though it is not explicitly stated, the letter implies that the change in direction will apply to the Ottawa General Hospital campus as well.
“Upon reviewing the current needs of the patients admitted to our hospital, we have noted an increase in the number of requests for bedside consultation with spiritual care, as many patients have been unable to attend a service outside of the unit … Moving forward, we will be offering greater spiritual support at the bedside, which will allow us to meet patients’ spiritual needs more personally.”
Love said the hospital recognizes and plans to provide full Mass services during special spiritual events throughout the year, like Christmas and Easter.
Fr. Kipling Cooper, Catholic chaplain at the Ottawa Civic Hospital, has directed all inquiries regarding the new policy to the Archdiocese of Ottawa-Cornwall. The archdiocese has yet to respond to requests for comment from The Catholic Register, which also reached out to Macdonell and Rebecca Abelson, Ottawa Hospital’s media contact, for clarification and comment. Both parties have yet to respond.
Five years after Bruyère founded the hospital, Bishop Joseph-Bruno Guigues purchased the building for the hospital to allow the sisters to serve the growing population of what was then Bytown.
A version of this story appeared in the October 06, 2024, issue of The Catholic Registerwith the headline "Daily Mass cancelled at Ottawa Hospital".
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