More Details Released in Revenue Canada Threat to Calgary Bishop Henry

CORNWALL, Ontario, October 25, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Calgary Roman Catholic Bishop Fred Henry revealed more information Friday about a conversation he had with the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency. After writing a letter to his diocese in June, rebuking Prime Minister Paul Martin for his bad example as a so-called devout Catholic, the CCRA threatened to have the Church’s charitable status revoked. LifeSiteNews.com first reported on this issue on September 29.  Bishop Henry spoke with the Globe and Mail Friday, while attending the annual meeting of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops in Cornwall. According to the Globe, the CCRA called bishop Henry, requesting that he remove the pastoral letter from the diocesan web-site. “I said, ‘Of course not.’” Bishop Henry said the CCRA charged that his letter was telling his parishioners how to vote. “I said, ‘I can’t control that perception.’” The issue is one that the CCCB planned to address at its meeting.  The CCRA official said he would be submitting a report on the matter to a superior.  The CCRA policy says: “A partisan political activity is one that involves direct or indirect support of, or opposition to, any political party or candidate for public office.”  Bishop Henry described that his letter was written to clear parishioner “confusion” about Paul Martin’s referring to himself as a “devout Catholic” while taking the morally anti-Catholic stand on gay “marriage” and abortion. The letter called Martin’s opinions “a source of scandal in the Catholic community,” and a sign of “fundamental moral incoherence.”  Read the Globe and Mail report:  https://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20041022/BISHOP22/National/Idx   Read related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:  Canada Tax Authority Warns Calgary Bishop to Avoid “Partisan” Rhetoric during Elections   https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2004/sep/04092902.html   tv