Dr. Rouleau in the war against AIDS.

Toronto -- In our October issue (p. 35) we reported on the problem faced by Development and Peace, in the process of signing a new five-year contract with Canada's International Development Agency (CIDA) which presently funds one third of D&P's $24 million budget. CIDA is a feminist-dominated organization and pushes so-called reproductive rights technology (e.g., abortion and contraception). D&P is the overseas development agency under the authority of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops.

In an earlier account D&P explained that it does not endorse or distribute condoms through its AIDS work in Africa (Cath. Reg., Aug. 26). The article also quoted the ambiguous statement of Dr. Katherine Rouleau of St. Michael's Hospital department of family and community medicine in Toronto, who is a medical advisor to Dignitas International. This Canadian medical organization does endorse the distribution of condoms. She was quoted as saying, "When the disease is undermining humanity with the prospect of 100 million deaths by 2010, there's more to it than the ideal of chastity. If you do believe the tenets of the Catholic Church you need to find a way to respect life."

Meanwhile, the St. Michael's Hospital fundraising project, "Angels in Africa," launched a community care model for dealing with AIDS in Africa in a joint project with Dignitas International. The brochure issued for the fundraiser in the name of Dignitas International listed condoms as one of the methods to be used in Africa, a fact which did not escape the scrutiny of pro-life people. The Catholic hospital fundraiser, by uniting with Dignitas International, was supporting condom pushing in Africa.

The story was published on LifeSite News on October 31. Immediately thereafter the fundraising concert scheduled for St. Michael's Cathedral on November 10 was cancelled. According to Suzanne Scorsone, Communications Director for the Toronto Archdiocese, the Dignitas International pamphlet which appeared on the website of St. Michael's Hospital was made "without consultation" of authorities at the hospital.

St. Michael's Hospital is no stranger to publicity contrary to Church teaching ever since the AIDS patients and staff were transferred from Wellesley Hospital. In 1999, they succeeded in getting the hospital to be an official sponsor of the 1999 gay pride week in Toronto.