OTTAWA, October 5, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) will argue before the Supreme Court of Canada in hearings beginning October 6 that the government’s draft bill which redefines marriage “implicates moral and hence religious values in a way that infringes freedom of conscience and religion.”
At the heart of the demand for same-sex marriage, the CCCB argues, is a demand for respect and moral approval of the underlying sexual relationship, a demand that could only be met by many Canadians through abrogation of their religious beliefs. The CCCB has been granted intervener status before the Supreme Court as the justices respond to a request from the federal government on the constitutionality of its proposed legislation. In its submission the Episcopal Conference also argues that the traditional definition of marriage is constitutional while the proposed legislation by the federal government to include same-sex partners in the definition of marriage is unconstitutional.
In some of the strongest language used by the Canadian Bishops to date, the CCCB states that under the new legislation “the state would require all Canadians to treat homosexual sexual conduct as a good.” The Bishops warn that “if established, this norm would provide formal legitimacy to the proposition, which is already being advanced by some, that all those who believe and publicly espouse the view that homosexual sexual conduct is immoral are anti-gay, homophobic, intolerant and equivalent to racists.” The CCCB will be represented by Ottawa lawyer William J. Sammon, who has pleaded before the Supreme Court of Canada on previous occasions for the Episcopal Conference. See the full factum online at: https://www.cccb.ca/Files/SupremeCourtMarriage.pdf jhw