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QUEBEC CITY, October 12, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – On September 25th, Marc Cardinal Ouellet, Archbishop of Québec City and Primate of Canada gave the homily at a Mass at Notre-Dame de Québec Cathedral for the Thirtieth Anniversary celebration of the “Respect for Life Education Movement.” The Cardinal urged pro-life Canadians to “fight the good fight.”

Cardinal Ouellet compared abortion to the slaughter of children in Beslan in early September and decried the complicity of the state in sending Canadian women to the U.S. for late term abortions. He expressed hope that the horrors of partial birth abortion would awaken public consciences. “The scandal of late-term abortions, a sad and terrible phenomenon of a culture of death financed by the State, has at last provoked in our population an ethical awakening and protestation.”

He praised the efforts of the pro-life community to educate and raise the consciousness of “the inviolable dignity of all human persons as the foundation of a just society.”  Cardinal Ouellet urged those present to pray “for the grace of a true renewal of the political class.” He called Canada a country marked by a state of “moroseness, depopulation and suicide,” and urged Canadians to implement “a new social pact in favour of life.” He asked, “Should we not link state resources, the wisdom of the Churches and the generosity of citizens to protect the unborn child, to come to the aid of women in distress and to support family values? Is there a future for our society without this conversion in favour of life?”  Cardinal Ouellet, along with Carl Anderson, international head of the Knights of Columbus, was awarded the Vive La Vie – Judge Alexandre Bastien Award for “respect for women and for all human life,” by the Respect for Life Education Movement.  Ph