An Aussie reader writes:

I read this story on CMR.

It would appear that Lucia Cies is a staff member at St Vincent’s Hospital Santa Fe.

I entered her name into the hospital search engine and it came up.

I went to her website where it states:
http://www.abortionsantafe.com/

Dr. Cies is an active staff member at St. Vincent Hospital, immediately adjacent to our office. She can provide inpatient abortion procedures [does this mean that the abortions are done in the Catholic hospital?] for high-risk patients with special medical needs. Your healthcare provider should call Dr. Cies if you require specialized care.

I have emailed the archdiocesean pro-life office [I couldn’t find a contact email for the abp] and asked them to give the information to the Abp. I have emailed the hospital with the info [as if they didn’t know] and asked for a reply.

Mark this makes me sick to my stomach. If you publish this scandal on your blog maybe something can be done.

Wishing you a blessed Lent,

p.s. What did you think of the little part of Oz which you saw?

1. Here’s hoping somebody in Santa Fe can get some action on this. Anybody? Bueller?

2. Oz was beautiful. Sydney felt like, well, this whole ‘nother country! Semi-tropical weather with rain like something out of a Somerset Maugham novel. Cockatoos, kookaburras, palm trees and eucalyptus. And the people were lovely: so gracious and welcoming. I had a fine time wandering around Sydney with my pal Peter. We saw the Cathedral and wandered through the nearby park and over to the Queen Vic building downtown, where I obtained the requisite geegaws, knick knacks and tchotchkes for the fambly. Twice I had total strangers come up and introduce themselves just because they heard my flat American accent and wanted to tell me about how much they loved my country and had spent time there.

Melbourne too was wonderful. I had a jolly dinner with the delightful David Schutz before my talk there and had the chance to see old friends who had lived in the States before returning home (shout outs to the van der Lindens!) I had dinner in (soon to be Saint) Mary McKillop’s old stomping grounds, right down the road from the Cathedral. And I got a quick tour of the Cathedral which will live in my memory as “David’s last day at work” because some crazy lady followed him around noisily telling him he was too noisy and demanding his card so that he could be sacked from the chancery. It was a kind act of self-sacrifice for him to go to all that trouble for me.

Most of all, what will abide in my memory is the bright future of the Sydney Church. 700(!) young adults turned out for Theology on Tap the first night I spoke and they were there for the theology, not the beer. You’ve got a great country and great Church over there. Take good care of it!