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CANADIAN CATHOLIC LEADERS DECRY CLARK AND CHRETIEN'S "CATHOLIC AND PRO-CHOICE" MOTTO

OTTAWA, Nov. 24 (LSN.ca) - Catholic leaders in Canada have spoken out against repeated statements by Progressive Conservative leader Joe Clark and Liberal Prime Minister Jean Chretien who have proclaimed themselves "Catholic" while at the same time "pro-choice."

On CBC radio's Canada AM Nov. 20, when Clark was asked if his pro-choice position and Roman Catholic religion were contradictory, he responded: "I am a Roman Catholic, I am pro-choice. ... Anyone who knows anything about the Roman Catholic Church knows that [abortion] has been an issue of division for quite sometime."

Chretien, while speaking at St. Joseph's Catholic High School in Barrie, Ont. Oct. 30, said, "For me, I'm a Roman Catholic. Personally, I don't have to, you know, I'm not at the age anymore to have my wife have abortion, but the reality ... is that it is the choice of not the husband to decide in my judgment, it is the judgment of the woman according to the values that this person have."

A close collaborator of Pope John Paul II remarked that Mr. Clark's and Mr. Chretien's comments were "absolutely ridiculous" coming from people who claim to be Catholic. But many local Canadian Catholic leaders have also objected.

Ottawa archbishop

Ottawa Archbishop Marcel Gervais criticized Chretien for his statements in Barrie. In a statement to LifeSite Nov. 3, Bishop Gervais said, "I was very disappointed in the Prime Minister's statement. He was in a Catholic school. One would hope that he could have provided a better answer."

He continued, "We are called to respect life, that of our own and that of others. We are called to a greater dignity and a greater responsibility and this must be addressed by our politicians if our nation is to be truly great." The Archbishop conceded that "our political leaders do not have an easy life. It's hard." But he added: "They need to make difficult choices if they really want a country which will be worth living in."

Toronto auxiliary bishop

Bishop Pearse Lacey, Auxiliary Bishop Emeritus of Toronto, was interviewed by LifeSite today. He said for Joe Clark and Jean Chretien "to publicly acknowledge on the one hand being Catholic and in the same breath pro-choice (a clever pseudonym for pro-abortion) just doesn't sit with millions of Canadian Catholics and peoples of other religious faiths."

He said that "compromise, moral relativism and political convenience too often nourish the smorgasbord of choices of religious beliefs and practices. Not only are they destructive to our political leaders, but sadly gravely damaging for those who look to them for integrity and example." Addressing the Catholic leaders he said, "My friends, you can't have it both ways - be true to yourself and the One who gave you your life."

Canon lawyer

Toronto canon lawyer Monsignor Vincent Foy reacted to the leaders' statements, saying, "The truth of the matter is, of course, that you cannot be a faithful Catholic and pro-choice." He said, "Our Catholic prime ministers have been in the main a disgrace to the Church."

Catholic Civil Rights League

Thomas Langan, president of the Catholic Civil Rights League, told LifeSite that "Prime Minister Chretien and Joe Clark" have issued "ringing declaration(s)" of their Catholic faith, but "one who affirms in the public square that he is a Catholic while dissenting publicly from essential Catholic teaching shows a fundamental ignorance about the Church."

Prof. Langan explains that by dissenting in essential matters, Catholics "automatically by canon law excommunicate themselves," and thus these "politicians should cease using their status as Catholics until they clarify this issue."

Catholic Insight editor

Fr. Alphonse de Valk, editor of the Toronto-based monthly magazine Catholic Insight repeated the words of the 1977 pastoral letter of the late Bishop James Mahoney of Saskatoon: "Anyone who is pro-abortion/pro-choice disqualifies him or herself from public office. No Catholic may vote for such a candidate."

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