The future of Canada: the election--Part V: Section B.

The first news report is about a meeting of the Catholic Organization for Life and Family. Here, the participants were made aware how Fast the legal challenges against opponents of same-sex "marriage" are developing. It appears that this was something they had not much thought about before.

A second news item reports on the reaction of the Scottish bishops on the threats to Freedom of religion and the rights of conscience there. They, like the Bishops of England and Wales, had recently had a knife put to their throats (see C.I., May 2007, pp. 22-23).

The third item deals with Catholic schools in Ontario. The drops in enrollments now beginning to manifest themselves and lead to competition between school boards. All of a sudden, the demand to create one school system is back in the newspapers. The open hostility of homosexual activists towards Catholic and private schools is again part of the overall picture.

1. CATHOLICS ALARMED AT SOCIETAL CHANGES

Ottawa--Bishop Ronald Fabbro, of London, Ontario, is chairman of the Catholic Organization of Life and Family (COLF). COLF was co-founded by the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Knights of Columbus to promote the teachings of the Catholic Church on the inherent dignity of the human person and respect for life from conception to natural death; to support and strengthen the fundamental role of the family in society; and, to promote the Church's teaching on natural family planning.

In March, COLF held its first two-day seminar on the family for an informal information gathering of some three dozen people. In an interview, Bishop Fabbro expressed the group's concern about the societal changes that are occurring which impact heavily on the family, especially those changes surrounding the redefinition of marriage. Formerly the family was supported by the culture that we lived in but we can't presume that anymore.... "I was particularly interested in the importance of the role the Church has to play in a society in which our families are not being supported [by the culture]," he stated.

As Christians we are called to always have hope and be centred on Jesus Christ. "We can't be passive. We have to be actively addressing the problem." Bishop Fabbro noted how quickly changes are taking place, and spoke alarmingly of the implications that the redefinition of marriage is posing: "The state is stepping in and defining who is a parent." "This undermines the biological relationship of mothers and fathers. We are seeing it in our schools. When parents are not supported, their children are affected in their emotional development, or they live in poverty."

Urgency

McGill University professor Douglas Farrow said that he "tried to bring a sense of urgency to the seminar." He said "that most people are unaware of the seismic shift the redefinition of marriage has created, legally and politically. Civil disobedience might be necessary down the road to defend religious freedom and the rights of parents."

He noted a recent document from the Quebec Human Rights Commission that calls for the creation of a new ministry to "stamp out homophobia and heterosexism from public life, and as far as possible from the private sector."

Professor Farrow warned that the state will promote the idea that there are no disordered sexual practices, only disordered opinions about them, and "by extension Church teaching will be deemed disordered. It is no longer acceptable to speak even the obvious in public," he said. (Quotes from Deborah Gyapong, The New Freeman, Apr. 13, 2007)

Comment:. As Catholic Insight has pointed out, all Christians--Catholics and Protestants--should resist and protest this assault en masse.

2. SCOTTISH BISHOPS BOLDLY DENOUNCE ATTACKS ON RELIGION AND CONSCIENCE

Glasgow--In a bold move prompted mainly by the controversy over homosexual adoptions, Scottish Catholic bishops have launched a full-fledged assault on the ruling Labour party in the lead-up to assembly elections. A pastoral letter sent to all 500 Scottish parishes the April 21-22, 2007 weekend accused the government of "a stealthy and unjust attack" on freedom of religion and the rights of conscience.

"Last year, in the face of widespread opposition, the Scottish Parliament extended the right to adopt to unmarried and same-sex couples," the bishops wrote. "These dubious innovations are detrimental not just to the good of the Catholic community, but to the common good of humanity as a whole. They deserve to be challenged at the ballot box."

Scotland's Parliament voted on Dec. 7, 2006 in favour of a measure to grant homosexual couples adoption rights. It also rejected proposed amendments that would have protected faith-based adoption agencies from being forced to place children with same-sex couples. On that occasion, Cardinal Keith head of the Scottish Catholic church, called the legislature's move "an immoral decision. We are descending into a spiral of immorality" (LifeSiteNews, Dec. 11, 2006).

In their April pastoral letter, the bishops alluded to abortion, embryo experimentation, easy divorce, and civil partnerships, as other examples of legislation and regulations "which are seriously at odds with the insights and values of our Christian faith and of other faiths." They indicated they also fear a future campaign to legalize euthanasia.

Faithful Catholics are being courted by Scottish National Party leader Alex Salmond, who is taking a favourable stance to Catholic schools (LifeSiteNews, Apr. 15, 2007; Spero News, Apr. 23, 2007).

Earlier, during Mass in Edinburgh's St. Mary's Cathedral, Archbishop Mario Conti of Glasgow quoted the words of Pope Benedict XVI in urging Scottish leaders to obey natural law: "Recognizing the truth about humanity is especially incumbent upon those who, by virtue of their social or political position, must make decisions regarding fundamental values, such as respect for human life, its defence from conception to natural death, the family built upon marriage between a man and a woman, the freedom to educate one's children and the promotion of the common good in all its forms," the Pope had said. "These values are not negotiable" (Zenit, March 28, 2007).

The Catholic position contrasts with that of influential ministers within the Church of Scotland (Presbyterian), who, in a report, have "confessed" that their church has been institutionally "homophobic" and "sinfully intolerant" of homosexuals (Spero News, April 25, 2007). They now take the position that homosexuality should be permissible between a monogamous couple. As readers know, promiscuity is a dominant feature of the homosexual lifestyle.

In the elections of May 4, the Scottish National Paty (SNP) won 47 seats while Labour dropped to 46 seats, losing control of the government. Conservatives won 17 seats, Liberal Democates 16, and others 3. In order to end Labour's 50 year long control, the Nationalists must form a coalition government.

3. CATHOLIC SCHOOLS IN ONTARIO THREATENED

Toronto--In Ontario, funding for Catholic schools was initially guaranteed until grade 9 under the 1867 BNA Act, but not developed until later. In 1984 the Progressive Conservative government of William Davis extended full funding to include the last three years of secondary school. Since that time Grade 13 has been dropped from the Ontario system, leaving Grades 1-12.

The Protestant system was eventually transformed into the present-day public boards. There school prayer was banned in the early 1980s.

Equality for all

Other faith groups do not receive similar funding, which has led them to charge discrimination and unfairness in the spirit of multiculturalism. Both the Supreme Court of Canada (Nov. 5, 1999) and the U.N. Human Rights Commission have condemned Ontario for supposedly violating the equality provisions (Article 26) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The U.N. tribunal said that if one religion can have separate funding, then schools of other faiths should be funded also. This overly utopian view does not take into account that the legal definition of "religions" has become so encompassing as to include every crackpot group that claims to be a "religion."

Meanwhile, in the 1990s, Quebec obtained a Constitutional amendment--improperly in our opinion--to eliminate the faith-based school system and replace it with a language-based secular system. In 2000 Newfoundland followed suit and eliminated religions in schools. Today, there are loud calls in Ontario for the elimination of Catholic schools, and their merger into the public system. Its detractors say that times have changed and Catholic rights don't need to be protected. Others say that it is unfair that Catholics get to have their own schools, showing that the state is favouring one religion over others. Still others maintain that it is not up to the school system to teach morality and religion beyond the 'golden rule'; that is the job of parents.

And there is always the contention that education is the second biggest expenditure in the province, after health care; that money could be saved by amalgamating the Catholic system with the public board.

Declining enrollments

All these reasons are overshadowed by one major factor: declining enrollments. There is also the fact that Catholic schools have for some time been enrolling non-Catholic students (see, for example, the News in Brief item, C.I., May 2007, under Peterborough, p. 28).

In April 2007, six school boards in the province called for the elimination of the separate system. The largest of these was the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board, followed then by the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board and several other small boards in south-western Ontario. However, Rick Johnson, president of the Ontario Public School Boards' Association (OPSBA), which represents public school trustees, encourages cooperation between the public and separate boards, rather than talks of merger. He notes that remarks that OPSBA is on record as supporting the elimination of the separate system are false. He stated that "Our country wouldn't exist the way we know it today had there not been the guarantees around religious education rights for Catholics and language rights" (Cath. Reg., Apr. 22, 2007).

John Stunt

Executive director of the Catholic trustees John Stunt says that the separate system has the full backing of all three main political parties; but he does caution that one must remain vigilant and aware that there are always groups in society who don't appreciate the value of a Catholic education and will always work for its destruction.

One of the main points surrounding the debate is the loss of students to the public board, especially outside the Greater Toronto Area, where, since 2002/03 the publicly funded schools have lost a total of 50,000 students, about 2.5 percent of the total. So the two boards are in conflict over diminishing funding; but rather than fight over funds, Johnson argues that the government, trustees, teachers' unions, and parent organizations should get together to work out compromises and sharing arrangements so that neither system will be eliminated.

Capital Xtra

Again, as of late, homosexual activists are also calling for the absorption of Catholic schools into one public system. As Ottawa's homosexual paper Capital Xtra put it, "Catholic schools continue as a haven for 'family values' for parents who do not want their kids to hear about gay issues" (April 26, 2007).

4. $300 MILLION FOR CONTROVERSIAL VACCINE?

Ottawa--The Harper government has roused concerns, particularly among parents, with the announcement that $300 million will be distributed to the provinces for the funding of Gardasil, a controversial new vaccine by pharmacological giant Merck against four of 100 strains of the human papilloma virus. HPV is one of the most common causes of sexually transmitted diseases and is contracted through sexual or skin-to-skin activity.

The vaccination is a series of three shots over six months and costs about $405. Several U.S states have made the vaccination mandatory but others have rejected it. Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said he would like to see Canadians receive the vaccine as quickly as possible: "The whole purpose is to make it available to people across Canada, regardless of their ability to pay."

According to the Canadian National Advisory Committee on Immunization, the effectiveness of the vac cine has not been established. Nonetheless, it recommends the vaccine be administered to girls 9 to 13 years of age. Concerned Women for America counters that the vaccination could give young girls a false sense of security regarding their sexual conduct and personal health.

Other critics point out that Merck & Co., Inc. has been fast tracking the vaccine without being upfront about possible side effects. The American College of Pediatricians is opposed to legislation that would make HPV vaccination mandatory for school attendance. Doing so would trespass "on the rights of parents to make medical decisions for their children, as well as on the rights of children to attend school," the APA said United Families International said vaccinations are not necessary for every girl, as many abstain from sexual activity until marriage (LiFeSiteNews, March 21; Press release, March 27; Ottawa Citizen, April 17).

The British medical journal Lancet has argued the HPV vaccine should not be restricted to girls, but administered to boys as well. At least two countries, Australia and Austria, already vaccinate boys (Globe and Mail, March 27).

CFAC

The Canada Family Action Council is calling the Harper government's funding of Gardasil "foolish." The Christian Heritage Party says the vaccine telegraphs a dangerous message to young women and raises the suspicions that the government is rescuing Merck financially after the Vioxx scandal.

"Our daughters and grand-daughters should not be the guinea pigs in an attempt to bail out Big Pharma," said CHP leader Ron Gray. "The $300 million allocated by Ottawa for Gardasil means Canadian taxpayers will be expected to foot a quarter of an international Merck bailout. And Canadian girls would be the victims" (CFAC Update, April 29; CHP news release, April 30).

ARTICLES BY TONY GOSGNACH AND FR. ALPHONSE DE VALK, C.S.B.