__________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
CANADA
Feminist march claims bishops’ support
Goals of march include abortion, birth control
Reacting to the news that feminists were using his name and comments to convince Catholics that Canada’s bishops wholly support the World March of Women, Bishop John Michael Sherlock of London has condemned the action.
The Toronto March for Women organizing committee was handing out materials showing the March to be pro-abortion and then also handing out materials listing Bishop Sherlock among four other bishops supporting the march. The material quoted Bishop Sherlock as saying, “If pro-life people had their way, we would all be living in a ghetto and crying about how unclean the rest of the world is.”
Bishop Sherlock wrote, “Unfortunately, some careless remarks of mine about the limited focus of some pro-life efforts, remarks for which I have sincerely apologized, have been taken out of context by some pro-abortion advocates to suggest that I support a pro-abortion agenda for the World March of Women 2000. That is completely false.” Although the bishop retained his support for the other aspects of the March for Women, he says a pro-life stand “is the only stance that can be reconciled with the equal dignity of all women.” He noted, “At least 50,000 of the children aborted each year in Canada are girls. Mounting evidence suggests that their mothers risk long-term physical, emotional, psychological, and spiritual trauma.”
Meanwhile, Vancouver’s Archbishop Adam Exner announced that the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace’s (CCODP) Share Lent collection, which was withheld last June pending a review of the CCODP’s support of the March, has been released to the organization’s national office. The archdiocesan newspaper, the BC Catholic, reported that the decision was first revealed in a meeting the archbishop had with CCODP on September 30.
In a statement, the archbishop said his decision last June to delay transfer of the funds “has had some good effects and accomplished much of what we set out to do. I understand that two of the objectionable demands of the march have been removed.” However, the pro-abortion and pro-homosexual lobbying demands of both the international and Canadian contingents of the March remained firmly in place, as well as the demands for unquestioning support for controversial UN documents, and funding of radical feminist groups and goals.
A spokesman for CCODP said there was “no change to the demands as a result of Archbishop Exner.” She said he might think he is “powerful enough to have made people sit down and change the demands” by his actions. However, she noted that the international demands did not change, and it was the international contingent of the March that CCODP funded. She noted the confusion may have resulted from the Canadian demand list and its new list of “13 immediate demands for change.”
However, even the pared down list of 13 “immediate” demands includes the promotion of homosexuality. Moreover, of the 13 demands listed, only one demand, number nine, asks for “elimination of poverty.” The remaining demands request political action items of a radical feminist agenda including $2 billion for a “national child-care fund,” “$50 million to front-line independent, feminist, women-controlled groups,” asking to “ban workfare,” and for “proactive pay equity legislation.”
The organizers of the controversial march also announced that Ottawa Archbishop Marcel Gervais, Calgary Bishop Fred Henry, and Bishop Sherlock would celebrate a Mass in Ottawa on October 15 for the March of Women at the Notre Dame Cathedral. Many of the participants at the Mass were expected to join the march to Parliament Hill organized by the Canadian contingent.
Control of Catholic schools
Board says bishop shouldn’t have closed school
A recent ruling by the British Columbia Labor Relations Board (LRB) has said that Bishop Gerald Wiesner of Prince George was wrong to close down a school after a conflict with teachers over the teaching of the Catholic faith.
After the teachers at the Catholic school joined the BC Government Employees Union, the union rejected the bishop’s right to remove a teacher for failing to uphold Catholic doctrine on issues including abortion, homosexuality, and divorce. Last year when the union refused to budge, the bishop closed the independent school. While the labor board ruling does not insist that the school be reopened, it says that the teachers must be compensated for their loss of employment.
Bishop Wiesner is appealing the decision and Ted West, superintendent of schools for the diocese, said the Church is ready to take the case to the Supreme Court if necessary. The BC Catholic newspaper reported the LRB as saying that while the bishop has the authority to develop standards for Catholic teachers, he doesn’t have the right to impose discipline on those who contravene those standards. It agreed with the union in insisting that a third party have the final say in such disputes. While in Ontario and some other provinces a third party has the final say, BC independent schools are only 50 percent government funded.
West noted that the LRB decision imperils the province’s 75 Catholic schools and hundreds of other religious independent schools. “All Catholic and Christian schools throughout the province will be unable to carry forward their mission in the light of this development.” He also said that if the Church cannot mandate the religious practices of teachers, there is no point in the Church running her own schools.
Back to Catholic World Report November 2000 Table of Contents