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Toronto Cardinal Warns "religion will soon need to be protected from the state."

Other speaker says "Christians who dare to speak out will be thrown to the judges and lawyers instead of the lions"

TORONTO, Sept. 23, 2003 (LifeSiteNews.com)- This time last year at the Toronto Red Mass and Red Mass Dinner for Catholic lawyers, judges and legislators, the featured guest speaker was pro-abortion former Prime Minister Joe Clarke. That choice scandalized many Catholics and caused Cardinal Aloysius Ambrozic to give a strong defence of the unborn in his homily. This year's dinner featured the Honourable Norm Cafik, P.C., former MP and Cabinet Minister under former Prime Minister John Diefenbaker.

After the mass reading on the beheading of John the Baptist, Cardinal Ambrozic, who lived under Communism in Slovenia, gave a homily emphasizing the necessity of Catholics in public life to be willing to suffer and even die for their faith. As a Catholic in public life, said the Cardinal, "you risk your neck for a (moral) absolute. There are things greater than ourselves for which we must be ready to die. If nothing is worth dying for, then I am not truly free."

In an obvious, though oblique reference to the recent passage of Svend Robinson's "sexual orientation" hate crimes bill in the House of Commons, the Cardinal went on to mention the erroneous interpretation of the concept of the separation of Church and state that is often used to silence the voice of faithful Canadian Christians. In this country, he said, the separation of Church and state will soon mean, not that the state needs to be protected from religion, but that "religion will soon need to be protected from the state." "Separation of Church and state," he said, "now means the separation of conscience from politics."

Later, dinner speaker Norm Cafik continued the Cardinal's theme comparing modern Christians in Canada with their spiritual ancestors in the Roman persecutions. Mr Cafik said that the time will shortly come when Christians who dare to speak out will be thrown to the judges and lawyers instead of the lions.

Mentioning the recent same-sex "marriage" and hate crimes legislation changes by name, he pointed out that John the Baptist lost his head over the definition of marriage and that St. Thomas More also lost his head over the definition of marriage. Cafik said that Catholic lawyers were now being compelled by law to accept what these saints would not accept.

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