The key role to which Bishop Raica alluded can trace its origins back to an 1897 plea from Bishop Edward P. Allen of Mobile. The good bishop wrote Mother Mariana, asking the Daughters of Charity to help establish a hospital in Birmingham. “The number of accident cases around the mines and railroads in that district is truly appalling,” noted Bishop Allen, “and at present there is no place adequately equipped to provide for them."

In response, Mother Mariana sent four sisters, Benedicta Roach, Patricia Malloy, Antonia Hanrahan, and Placida Scott. The sisters and Father Patrick A. O’Reilly, then pastor of St. Paul’s Catholic Church in Birmingham, faced the challenge head-on. They rented the Henry F. DeBardelaben mansion at 206 15th Street, South, and opened it on Dec. 20, 1898, as St. Vincent’s Hospital, named after the Daughters of Charity’s founder, St. Vincent de Paul. Thanks to the tireless efforts of Father O’Reilly, less than two years after its opening, the hospital dedicated a permanent building on Nov. 29, 1900. Over 20 years later, in 1921, Father O’Reilly’s successor, Father James E. Coyle, then pastor of St. Paul’s, was brought to St. Vincent’s for his final moments after being shot while sitting on the rectory porch.

Almost a century later in 2014, the Daughters of Charity recalled their sisters serving in the Diocese of Birmingham. The move meant a leadership change for St. Vincent’s, clearing the way for Ascension to take over. During a Mass of Thanksgiving for the order’s tireless servants over the years, Bishop Robert Baker, then Bishop of Birmingham, said in his homily, “I join all of you in saying ‘thank you’ to the hundreds of sisters who brought that message of Jesus, a message of healing, mercy, and hope, to so many … Thank you, dear Sisters, for being the hands and heart of Jesus in a caring and loving way to all those who came to you in need. You were Jesus to them, and you always saw Jesus in them. We thank you for bringing Jesus to our Birmingham area community all these years!”

When it came time to mark the hospital’s 125th anniversary, St. Vincent’s touted a history which included the opening of the state’s first nursing school under the leadership of the state’s first registered nurse, Sister Chrysostom Moynahan, undertaking numerous expansions to the original location, and adding St. Vincent’s East, the One Nineteen campus south of town, and hospitals in Blount, Chilton, and St. Clair counties. In recognition of the anniversary, Bishop Raica celebrated a Mass of Thanksgiving in the hospital’s chapel on Jan. 4, 2023. He mentioned in his homily that “Ascension St. Vincent’s Hospital has been part of the public and Catholic institutional memory of Birmingham.” “Through its professional expertise,” he continued, “it brought hope to a new growing city in the deep South.” There is no doubt that the hope St. Vincent’s brought derived from the Daughters of Charity’s ministry, which was dedicated to “spiritually centered, holistic care designed to sustain and improve the health of the community as well as its citizens.”

Less than two years later in June 2024, the announcement regarding the acquisition of St. Vincent’s Health System by UAB Health System was released. The passing of ownership to a non-Catholic owner translated into the hospital losing its ability to use the name “Catholic” or otherwise project a Catholic identity.

In response to the news, Bishop Raica expressed his sadness, but during the closing Mass of Thanksgiving at St. Vincent’s Birmingham on Sept. 27, 2024, the bishop highlighted the hope which the hospital had fostered over its long history.

In his heartfelt homily, Bishop Raica thanked the many sisters and health care workers “who achieved so much good and good will.” He conceded to the sadness felt by many yet emphasized gratitude. “St. Vincent’s Hospital has been a beacon of hope, healing, and compassion for over a century,” he exclaimed. “Today, while we acknowledge the conclusion of one chapter, we also look forward with hope, trusting that the mission and indomitable spirit of charity and healing born in this sacred place will live on as subsequent chapters are written.”

Reflecting on the first reading, Bishop Raica said: “There has been a time for St. Vincent’s to rise up, to serve, and to be a vessel of Christ’s healing in this community. It has been a place where those who were sick, suffering, and in need found care and compassion, not only from skilled medical professionals but from those who embraced the healing ministry of Jesus Christ Himself. This hospital has been more than bricks and mortar; it has been the living and visible hands and beating heart and love of Christ reaching out to heal the wounded, comfort the grieving, and restore dignity to the poor and needy.”

“Finally,” he concluded, “while we feel the sad loss of a religious mission and the removal of points of reference which were comforting to us as people of faith like crosses, statues, chapels, and artwork that have marked the mission of our Catholic presence in this community, we must remember that the focus of our care always was and remains the dignity of the human person who reflects the image and likeness of God. … During this Mass today, we give thanks for the gift that Ascension St. Vincent’s Hospital has been, and we go forth in hope, knowing that the mission of Christ continues in a different way — here in Birmingham, and beyond — but present nonetheless through all who serve in His name. Amen.”