Facing a possible civil rights lawsuit, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has backed off a threat to revoke the accreditation of Saint Francis Hospital South in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The agency had threatened to revoke the hospital’s accreditation if it did not extinguish the candle burning in its chapel. Saint Francis South is a Catholic hospital, and hospital officials said the candle represents the living presence of Jesus. They said the government was trying to force it to choose between its faith and serving those in need. The agency now says the hospital can keep the candle, which had been burning for 15 years with no problem.
