Good out of evil: a controversial editorial.

In the B. C. Catholic for the first week of November, editor Paul Schratz was so bold as to say that the shooting of American abortionist Barnett Slepian might have some good effects: other abortionists might stop performing abortions.

Schratz was not recommending the shooting of abortionists; in fact he said at least six times that to take a man's life is a sinful action. He also correctly pointed out that "Our faith teaches us that we cannot intend an evil action in the hope that good might come of it." But out of evil, he said, God can bring good.

He was asking his readers to make distinctions; but a dissenting priest, Jim Roberts, and a pro-abortion spokeswoman used it to start a row. Others joined in.

B. C. Health Minister Penny Priddy called the editorial terribly insensitive--"To think that anyone's murder could have a positive side effect distresses me very much."

In Toronto, that eminent philosopher-theologian Henry Morgentaler called the editorial disgusting--"tantamount to inciting murder and violence against doctors who provide abortions."

Of course, the idea that God could bring good out of evil hardly appeals to those who do not believe in God in the first place.

The contrast between the treatment of this story by our two "national" newspapers was also instructive. The Globe story had a headline saying, "No good can come of killing, Vancouver's archbishop says." Underneath was a comment reading, "Church rejects editorial finding hope of slaying of abortion doctor." Beside the news story was a large photograph of Archbishop Exner of Vancouver, and the caption beneath it had him saying that the editor of the newspaper "should not have expressed sympathy for people who kill doctors who perform abortions."

The National Post headlined its story "Catholic paper cites `positive' side effects of slaying." It described Archbishop Exner as offended by media misunderstandings of the editorial, and as strongly defending what Schratz wrote. "If you read the whole editorial," said the archbishop, "I feel one cannot come to any other conclusion but that the editorial condemns the killing of abortion doctors."

The Post reprinted the whole of the B. C. Catholic editorial, so that readers could make up their own minds about its merits, while the Globe printed only a few selected passages.

Catholic Insight sent editor Paul Schratz a congratulatory fax.