From Norman Lower re "The task before us" (C.I., June 2007, p. 3).

In your excellent editorial, you have zeroed in the numerous problems seriously affecting the well-being of Canada.

You identify our country as "a dying Canada" and "a deeply divided nation" over unrestrained abortion. We can now certainly add another deeply divisive issue: the legalization by Parliament in June 2005 of so-called same-sex marriage. I remember the CBC's The National on July 1 of that year: Peter Mansbridge reported on celebrations in various parts of Canada and kept crowing about "My Canada." I could only think, sadly: my Canada? Not any more, tragically.

What do we have to crow about when we no longer are "the true North strong and free"? We hypocritically sing "God keep our land glorious and free," all the while passing laws that are intrinsically in opposition to His created order, laws and commands. In a homily in September 2005 Cardinal Marc Ouellet affirmed (to a standing ovation in a full Quebec City church--I was there): "Notre pays ne peut etre renouvele que par des saints" ("Our country cannot be renewed other than by saints.")

Yes, as you say, "in Quebec, the clergy simply suspended any mention of family moral questions with the Quiet Revolution in 1960.... Only the arrival of Cardinal Marc Ouellet in 2002 is beginning to make a difference there." Indeed, at the present writing, the Cardinal is actively opposing Quebec Law 95, which by September 2008 will be enforced in all Quebec schools, both private and public. It will "suppress and eliminate all traditional confessional religious instruction from Quebec Schools, replacing this instruction by a course on ethics and religions conceived by the State" (from the Cardinal's Petition being circulated in the churches, emphasis in the original). Yet another assault on religious freedom by the secular state.

You say further: "In English-speaking Canada [and in Quebec also], hierarchy and clergy opted out after the 'birth-control' encyclical of 1968, diverting all attention and efforts to economic justice and assistance for causes overseas ..." This opting out has packed a double whammy:

First, priorities became muddled. Professor Donald De Marco points out: "The horse should precede the cart; the Commandment to love God takes precedence over the Commandment to love one's neighbour.... It seems reasonable to interpret John 6 as an unrebuttable argument for placing the importance of the Eucharist ahead of that of social justice ... Social justice is a divine mandate. It cannot be ignored. But the life, for Christians, that animates their social justice activities, is Christ's own life, for without Him we can do nothing (John 15:4)" ("Social justice: Food that will last," C.I., Feb. 2004, pp. 27-8).

Second, the Canadian bishops in 1968 published their "Winnipeg Statement" with its skewed teaching on conscience (paragraph 26). In the words of Dr. De Marco: "[V]arious Catholic bishops responded to Humanae vitae by placing a disproportionate amount of emphasis on conscience, thereby virtually de-emphasizing the role of knowledge, especially knowledge of the nature of the human being and the nature of sexual union" (New Perspectives in Contraception, 1999, p. 76). Dr. De Marco illustrates by quoting from the statements of four Episcopal conferences, including the Canadian (cf. paragraph 26).

"People must speak up," the editorial urges, "... write letters to editors, get organized for justice, freedom of speech, traditional families, and the defence of truth." For my part I use the written word, through letters to editors (some have been published) and essays to defend the Church's teaching and traditional marriage, to speak out against homosexual unions/ 'marriage,' and to continue efforts to convince the bishops to rescind their Winnipeg Statement. Concerning the latter, I thank you for your kind letter of encouragement to keep "informing new bishops on the Winnipeg Statement of 1968 and its unacceptable Clause 26" (March 6, 2007). I have been actively involved with this issue for a number of years; thanks to the inspiration and support of Msgr. Vincent Foy, this has become for me an ongoing and lifetime project, to carry on in his footsteps. I commend Challenge magazine for keeping the issue alive: on the front cover of the June, 2007, issue is a "Pro Forma letter to one's Bishop urging rescinding of the "Winnipeg Statement."

Let us end on a note of Christian hope, and thank God for the gift of the Catholic Faith. In her unchanging teachings, the Church remains a bastion of truth and sanity (cf. 1 Tm. 3:15) in a world becoming increasingly insane. Said Dr. De Marco in a letter to me: "Things seem to be getting crazier by the minute" (Feb. 2007).

Quebec, QC