"Gay" intolerance frightens St. Joseph Oratory.

Montreal -- Bowing to threats from "gays," lesbians, and other pro-abortion individuals in the Montreal area, the Holy Cross Fathers at St. Joseph's Oratory unilaterally cancelled their contract to serve as hosts of this year's National Pro-Life Conference. They did so less than 24 hours before the November 17-19 event was to begin.

Rector Fr. Jean-Pierre Aumont told a Montreal newspaper afterwards that the Oratory "is a sanctuary for peace and reflection, not a place for confrontation ... we could not take the risk." The rector never consulted either the police or the organizers.

Pro-life organizers, who originally said they would launch a legal action to recoup their losses from the cancellation, criticized the Oratory's priests for submitting to the intimidation. They had received assurances from the police that full security would be provided. The move was "a great capitulation on the part of the Catholic church in the face of opposition to its pro-life, pro-family teaching," said Campaign Life Coalition president Jim Hughes, whose Quebec branch sponsored the event. The conference had as its theme, "Life and Family: Source of Hope." Campagne Quebec Vie served as host.

Fortunately, La Bible Parle Protestant Evangelical Church in suburban Cartierville took up the challenge and agreed to house the conference as an alternate, last-minute site. The venue change, the threat of protests and the publicity did not hurt attendance at the conference; in fact, Campagne Quebec Vie president Luc Gagnon said final registration figures--just under 400--were almost double what he had expected. Some minor pro-abortion protests were staged over the three days, including one in which about 40 demonstrators confronted a dozen police officers outside La Bible Parle. Some "gays" handed out condoms with the words "the Body of Christ!" One demonstrator was arrested and charged with vandalism after he spray-painted a church window.

Notable Catholic speakers at the conference included Msgr. Jude Saint-Antoine, auxiliary bishop of Montreal; Yves Duceppe, a former state deputy for the Quebec Knights of Columbus; Michele Boulva, director of the Catholic Organization for Life and Family; Richard Bastien, director of the Catholic Civil Rights League in the Ottawa region; and author and artist Michael O'Brien. Participants examined a wide range of life-related topics, such as the media, the impact of abortion on women's health, euthanasia, the family, marriage, politics, and stem-cell research. Scheduled speakers Edouard Cardinal Gagnon, president emeritus of the Pontifical Council for the Family, and Archbishop Adam Exner, archbishop emeritus of Vancouver, were unable to appear due to illness. Next year's National Pro-Life Conference, with the theme "Healing Our Culture," is scheduled for Vancouver, B.C., in November 2006.