OTTAWA, May 16 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Only days after Cardinal Ambrozic, Archbishop of Toronto, issued a letter condemning the association of the Archdiocese with the abortion and homosexual marriage supporting March of Women 2000, the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) along with the Catholic Women’s League (CWL), the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace (CCODP), and the Canadian Religious Conference (CRC) issued a press release reaffirming support for the march. LifeSite has obtained a copy of the cardinal’s May 9 letter to the priests of the archdiocese explaining that “the association of (CCODP) with this group (International March of Women) is indeed unfortunate.” Cardinal Ambrozic’s letter adds “we need to make a clear and definite statement to disassociate our Archdiocese with this movement through (CCODP).” Along with his letter, the cardinal included a letter from ShareLife, the fundraising arm of the Archdiocese of Toronto, informing CCODP that they were reducing funding to CCODP by “an amount equivalent to our proportionate share of the $110,000 Development and Peace has given to the march over the past three years” (estimated to be about $15,000). The cardinal noted that the ShareLife letter was “being sent with my complete agreement and support.”
The letter to CCODP by ShareLife is signed by Terry Thompson, executive director of ShareLife, on behalf of the ShareLife Advisory Board. The letter states that “Since ShareLife and the Archdiocese of Toronto do not wish to give the mixed messages that an endorsement for the International March of Women would now give, we cannot support the March.. We cannot appear to be legitimizing demands which are contrary to the human rights of the unborn and to the nature of marriage.” The letter explained that “while the International March still has at its core many vital issues on which we are all in agreement, it has nonetheless come to carry both a direct, and a pervasive if indirect, message in two issues which are incompatible with our participation: abortion and legitimization of same-sex relationships as marriage.” The letter also asks CCODP to “re-evaluate” their support for the march “and if possible suspend your final payment to them.”
In stark contrast, the letter issued by the CCCB, and the other groups, today says, “as four major national Catholic organizations, we jointly reaffirm our support of the objectives of this year’s World March of Women.” “The World Demands contain no reference to abortion,” says the CCCB letter, echoing the deceptive language used to justify the support of the march by the CCODP. As LifeSite has already reported, despite these claims, the full coordinating committee of the International Women’s March unanimously decided that their demand using language about “reproductive” rights meant it was pro-abortion. The CCCB letter also sweeps aside concerns that the march supports homosexual marriage saying, “we wish to underline that support of the general objectives of the World March of Women 2000 does not mean support for each and every one of the specific Canadian demands.”
In answer to the CCCB release one may ask the same rhetorical question the ShareLife letter addressed to CCODP. “We must ask at what point working with a coalition in hopes of furthering good objectives edges over into condoning the active fostering of unacceptable objectives pressed by other member of the coalition. At what point do attempts to influence in a positive manner become so overwhelmed by contrary developments and the appearance of being co-opted, that fine distinctions are lost on those being reached by the message?” Through ShareLife the Toronto Archdiocese warned CCODP that “the association of Development and Peace with these groups is causing great concern and confusion among the faithful.”
For LifeSite’s complete coverage of the March of Women scandal see:
Positive Developments on Pro-Abortion March of Women
CCODP Damage Control Over Support for Abortion, Lesbian March
Canada’s Catholic Church Sponsors Radical Feminist March
Development and Peace Gave $110,000 To Abortion March
Bishop Defends Funding of Pro-Abortion March