TORONTO, February 6, 2002 (LSN.ca) – The Canadian Catholic Civil Rights League (CCRL) has urged Catholics around the world to respond to the targetting of World Youth Day by the pro-abortion group “Catholics for a Free Choice” (CFFC). As LifeSite reported earlier, CFFC has launched a campaign in Toronto to target the 750,000 youth expected at the upcoming World Youth Day. The campaign includes billboard and public transit advertising as well as a planned condom and propaganda distribution at the Catholic event featuring Pope John Paul II, the world’s most renowned pro-life and pro-family advocate.
CCRL is currently focusing on the billboard ads which are up in the city of Toronto, calling them “false and misleading.” The billboards read: “Because the bishops ban condoms, innocent people die,”“Catholic people care. Do our bishops?” To see a copy of this ad, go to https://www.condoms4life.org/images/protonov21b.jpg
CCRL has asked Catholics to address their concerns about the billboards and CFFC campaign to the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Archdiocese of Toronto, encouraging them to counter the CFFC campaign with a strong public defense of the church’s stand on sexual morality. Concerns should also be addressed to the Canadian Advertising Standards Council and the company which owns the billboards. (see contact info below).
CCRL President Dr. Thomas Langan said “The ad’s accusation that people die because they follow the Church’s teachings on sexual morality makes no sense. AIDS cannot flourish if people reserve sexual activity for monogamous married relationships as the Church teaches”. Langan continued that “To blame the Catholic Church for the suffering and death inflicted upon the world by the AIDS epidemic is a massive distortion. As the Church teaches, abstinence and chastity are the only sure-fire way to avoid AIDS”.
Dr. Langan told LifeSite, “‘Catholics for a Free Choice’ is not Catholic in any recognizable sense of the word. It is headed by Francis Kissling, a self-excommunicated Catholic whose past includes a stint at running abortion clinics, and is funded by, among others, The Playboy Foundation.” CCRL said of CFFC “It is simply a vehicle to sabotage the Catholic Church in order to forward a pro-abortion, anti-family agenda.”
Contact the following parties with your objections to the ads:
Archdiocese of Toronto Catholic Pastoral Centre 1155 Yonge Street, Suite 503 Toronto, Ontario, M4T 1W2 Tel: (416) 934-0606 Ext. 563; FAX (416) 934-3444 Email: [email protected] Director: Suzanne Rozell Scorsone, Ph.D. Assistant: Catherine Osborne
Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops 90 Parent Avenue Ottawa, Ontario K1N 7B1 Tel.: (613) 241-9461 Fax: (613) 241-8117 https://www.cccb.ca Email: [email protected] Rev. Mr. William Kokesch Director, Communications Service [email protected]
Advertising Standards Canada These billboards violate both sections 1 and 14 of the “Canadian Code of Advertising Standards.” The former section concerns false and misleading statements, the latter section deals with the defamation, in this case the Catholic Bishops in Canada.
Advertising Standards Canada 350 Bloor Street East, Suite 402 Toronto, Ontario M4W 1H5 Fax: (416) 961-7904 e-mail [email protected] President and CEO – Linda J Nagel [email protected] Consumer Complaints – English – Janet Feasby [email protected] Complaint form https://www.adstandards.com/en/Standards/complaintsform.html
Pattison Outdoor Advertising – The company that owns the billboards. 2285 Wycroft Road, Oakville, ON, L6L 5L7 PHONE: (905)-465-0114 FAX: (905)-465-0633 EMAIL: [email protected] President – Glenn McConnell [email protected]
If in Toronto, please contact your local councillor: https://app.city.toronto.on.ca/im/council/councillors.jsp
See related coverage: GROUP VOWS TO HAND OUT CONDOMS AT WORLD YOUTH DAY https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2002/feb/020204.html#2 ROCKEFELLER’S PHONY “CATHOLIC” GROUP TRIES TO BOOT VATICAN FROM UN https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/1999/march/990326.html#4 Will anti-Catholic group finally die after humiliating defeat in Congress? https://www.lifesitenews.com/interim/2000/aug/18kissling.html NCCB/USCC President Issues Statement on Catholics for a Free Choice https://www.usccb.org/comm/archives/00-123.htm See American Life League ad exposing CFFC ( Adobe Acrobat file) https://www.all.org/news/cffcad.pdf