The controversial purchase of the Caritas Christi Health Care chain in eastern Massachusetts won final approval from the single justice on the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts assigned to review the case.

Associate Justice Francis X. Spina gave the go-ahead for New York private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management to turn the six-hospital Catholic system for-profit after deliberating for eight days, the Boston Globe reported Friday.

The judgment comes only two days before the asset purchase agreement was set to expire, the Globe said. The companies still have to agree on the deal.

Cerberus has vowed to invest hundreds of millions of dollars into the ailing hospital system, taking on its debt and keeping it open for at least three years. But Catholic groups fear the system risks losing its Catholic identity. A clause in the agreement would allow Caritas to drop the Catholic affiliation if it became "materially burdensome," in exchange for a $25 million donation to a charity of the Archdiocese's choice, an option opposed by some Catholic groups. Rival local hospitals also fear they can't compete against "private equity money."

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