Friday July 30, 2010
Development & Peace Apology to CLC Published in Catholic Register
By John-Henry Westen
TORONTO, July 30, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The newly released edition of Canada’s Catholic Register includes the letter of apology to Campaign Life Coalition (CLC) by the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development & Peace (D&P), the official development arm of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops. D&P issued the letter in response to a threat of legal action by CLC after D&P made a number of slanderous statements about the national pro-life organization in a 10-page Question and Answer document.
The letter, signed by D&P executive director Michael Casey, apologizes for the statements and retracts them unreservedly. The letter appears in full on the back page of the current edition of the Catholic Register.
The slanderous statements that have been retracted were:
– “These groups are part of the far right wing fringe element of North American society and have themselves been associated with groups and individuals who have resorted to violence to publicize their cause and achieve their objectives.”
– “These single-issue militant advocacy groups, particularly those focusing on anti-abortion advocacy, continuously misrepresent facts and distort reality to serve their purpose.”
Responding to these statements, the D&P letter states: “DEVELOPMENT AND PEACE acknowledges that any inferred or implied references to Campaign Life Coalition in these quotations are false, and we unreservedly retract these comments. We extend our sincere apologies to Campaign Life Coalition for any embarrassment that this document may have caused.”
After the letter is reproduced in the Register, CLC comments: “CLC thanks D&P for setting the record straight.”
To see all the LSN coverage of the D&P controversy click here.