Catholic Family Centre denies its Catholicity.

Kitchener, ON -- A family and psychological counselling agency, the Catholic Family Counselling Centre, is going ahead with plans to have former U.S. president Bill Clinton speak at a fundraising dinner in November. The Centre advertises itself as "nondenominational" though it is called Catholic and founded by the diocese of Hamilton in 1952.

Bishop Gerard Bergie, auxiliary bishop of the Hamilton diocese, told LiFeSiteNews.com, "We're very, very disappointed with that news. We're not in favour and we're not sponsoring Clinton's appearance. It is not appropriate. We'll still try to encourage them to change their minds. They have to understand their Catholic mission," he declared. "Based on that mission there are certain things that would not be appropriate and this is one of them."

The Centre's director, Mrs. Cathy Brothers, told LiFeSiteNews.com that the agency will be going ahead with Clinton's appearance in spite of the complaints. "We're an inclusive agency that helps all members of the community," she said. "It is not our practice to take sides. We respect the opinions of the people you are referring to but we are going ahead with the event as planned (Aug. 18, 2006)."

Among those who have complained is Toronto's Lise Anglin, who wrote a strong letter to Mrs. Brothers, pointing out what abortion means for the baby, and giving a 7-step action plan for damage control, starting with "Cancel Clinton immediately," and ending with "if you are not sorry, resign."