The Biden administration will allow a Catholic hospital to keep its sanctuary candle after previously demanding its removal for fire safety requirements, the hospital’s lawyers announced Friday.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ordered Saint Francis Health System’s Senior Vice President and General Counsel Michael J. Lissau in April to remove a candle inside the Catholic hospital’s sanctuary and denied requests for a waiver. Becket Law, a nonprofit law firm representing the hospital, announced Friday that HHS had rescinded its decision after Becket threatened legal action for religious discrimination.