Quebec City hospital receives 'serious threat' after taking down crucifix
A hospital in Quebec City said it received a "serious threat" after it took down a crucifix that had been hanging in its entranceway.
Police are investigating the incident involving the Saint-Sacrement hospital, which was founded by nuns in 1927.
A torrent of criticism ensued after the hospital removed the crucifix last week following a complaint from a patient.
A petition opposing the move had been signed by more than 12,000 people by Tuesday night.
Conservative radio host Éric Duhaime and former Parti Québecois cabinet Bernard Drainville, who co-host a noon-hour talk show on FM 93, have been encouraging listeners to sign the petition.
Hospital officials also said it has received some 600 phone calls about the crucifix, which was about 30 centimetres long and tucked between two elevators.
The officials cited a legal brief by Quebec's human rights commission to justify its decision to take it down. The brief suggests that displaying religious symbols in certain institutions, such as schools, could constitute a human rights violation.
"We have a responsibility to respect these principles, even if a certain part of the population thinks otherwise," the hospital said in a statement on Tuesday.
'Doctrinaire secularism'
The Roman Catholic archdiocese in Quebec City has been leading the criticism.
"I see it ... as a lack of sensitivity towards our people and their history," Quebec City's archbishop, Cardinal Gérald Cyprien Lacroix, said in a statement.
"I admire all those who dared to express their unhappiness with respect and conviction. If we let the removal of the crucifix pass, what will be the next target?"
Lacroix called the decision an example of "doctrinaire secularism."
A arch-Catholic lobby group, Movement Tradition Québec, attempted to reinstall a crucifix in the hospital's entranceway on Sunday, but that too has since been removed.
Quebec Health Minister Gaétan Barrette said he has no intention of getting dragged into the debate.
"My role as minister is not to manage what is on the walls of Quebec institutions," he said.
