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Religious Order Returns Two Orders of Canada over "Outrage" of Award to Abortionist Henry Morgentaler

By John-Henry Westen
 
TORONTO, December 8, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A Catholic religious order known as the Oblate Fathers of Assumption Province, based in Toronto, Ontario, has returned two Orders of Canada awarded to members of the community in protest against the decision to grant the award to abortionist Henry Morgentaler. 

"We write to you today, December 8th , the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Principal Patroness of our Congregation, on account of the recent decision by your office and the committee responsible for nominations to provide an Order of Canada to Henry Morgentaler, the noted Toronto abortionist," begins the letter addressed to Governor General Michaelle Jean.
 
"We hope that this gesture is understood as a sign of our astonishment and outrage at the exploitation of the Order of Canada in the interests of an ideology of death, division and indignity which has resulted in the clinical murder of over 110,000 Canadians every year who never had the chance to deserve a better country," says the letter, signed by the Provincial Superior of the Order, Fr. Janusz Blazejak, OMI.
 
The Order of Canada was awarded twice to Members of the Community - to Fr. Anthony Sylla OMI and Fr. Michael Smith OMI. The letter explains that "the former spent his life encouraging and supporting immigrants in the Canadian prairie in the early part of the 20th century and the latter is known for his achievements in the area of support for the dignity of our senior citizens, married couples and families as well as for spearheading the creation of the largest parish based Credit Union in North America."
 
The letter notes further, "Both of these priests were outspoken in their commitment to the inviolable dignity of the human person from the time of conception to natural death. They would have been the first to acknowledge that their commitment to their fellow man outweighed the need for membership in an Order that did not hold to the ideals to which they committed their lives."
 
"Whatever one's views on the status of the unborn, the fact that the Order of Canada was given to someone whose ‘unique’ contribution to the Canadian body politic consists of the procurement of tens of thousands of abortions does poor service in view of the many people who have given of their lives dedicated to making Canada a better nation," said the letter.
 
See our special page with all the fallout from the decision to award Morgentaler:
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008_docs/Morgentalerorder.html

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