Costa Rica: Supreme Court orders reinstallation of image of Christ removed from public hospital

The Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice of Costa Rica ordered the “reinstallation of the image of the Holy Christ at the entrance to the operating room” of a public hospital, after having been removed by order of the director of the medical center.

On August 13, the Chamber declared the appeal for protection presented “acceptable”, according to local mediaby a nurse from Hospital México, located in the city of San José, against Dr. Douglas Montero Chacón, director of the hospital.

According to the statement issued by the authorities on Wednesday, the appeal arose because the director had not authorized the replacement of an image that “was located at least since 2008 on the wall at the entrance to the operating rooms of that hospital center.”

It is indicated that the image was removed during a renovation and then remained in the new building for two years, “until the general director gave the verbal order for it to be removed.”

According to the justification of the director of the medical center, the decision not to authorize the placement of the image was based on the need to “ensure the right to free worship and religious diversity of the different occupational groups of Hospital México.”

In their resolution, the magistrates considered that this reason “lacks an objective and reasonable foundation, since the presence of the image does not seek to impose a faith or religious belief, but rather is the exercise of freedom of worship, as the external manifestation of freedom of conscience.”

The Constitutional Chamber also highlighted the violation of article 75 of the Political Constitution of Costa Ricawhich establishes that the “Catholic, Apostolic, Roman religion is that of the State, which contributes to its maintenance, without impeding the free exercise in the Republic of other cults that do not oppose universal morality or good customs.” .

For this reason, Dr. Douglas Montero Chacón was ordered, within a period of three days from the notification of the sentence, to proceed to reinstall the image of the Holy Christ in its original place in the Mexico Hospital.