YARMOUTH, June 15 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In a letter clearly outlining the reasons against Catholic participation in the World March of Women, James M. Wingle, Bishop of Yarmouth, has said that his diocese “cannot support” the March. The following quotes from the bishop’s letter are self-explanatory and prove the March as insupportable from a Catholic position.
“Anything that compromises or clouds our witness to this utterly essential good of life and the inalienable right to it, must be rejected. It is radically inconsistent and mutually contradictory to espouse a defense of the dignity and rights of women, while refusing to defend the right to life of unborn children. No amount of reference to other good intentions in actions we take or positions we support can ever justify compromise in our inescapable responsibility of choosing to be unconditionally pro-life.”
Bishop Wingle quotes the pope in his encyclical Evangelium Vitae, “Gods commandments teach us the way of life. The negative moral precepts, which declare that the choice of certain actions is morally unacceptable, have an absolute value for human freedom: they are valid always and everywhere, without exception. They make it clear that the choice of certain ways of acting is radically incompatible with the love of God and with the dignity of the person created in his image. Such choices cannot be redeemed by the goodness of any intention or of any consequence; they are irrevocably opposed to the bond between persons; they contradict the fundamental decision to direct ones life to God.” (Evangelium Vitae, # 75.)
The bishop concludes saying, “Some may have hoped at an earlier time that by offering qualified support to the World March, an influence could be exercised on those responsible for the leadership of the March to foster in the expressions of the March only the inclusion of goals and aims that are worthy and consistent with the Church’s teaching on life, marriage and family. Such hope is now demonstrated to be futile. One after another of the national committees of the World March of Women list among their objectives and demands the inclusion of abortion and same-sex unions. The Canadian organizing committee, the United States committee, the Swiss committee, – to mention but a few – have each in turn called for the enshrinement of access to contraception and abortion as an integral part of what they call women’s reproductive health. They also demand legal recognition of same-sex unions. While these demands are not typically listed as the first objectives of the March, the fact that they are integrally included is more than sufficient grounds to warrant the removal of any support for the March on the part of individuals, groups or associations of the Catholic Church.”
The full letter from Bishop Wingle is available at LifeSite at: https://www.lifesitenews.com/clc/womens_march/winglestatement.html