By Thaddeus M. Baklinski
OTTAWA, October 8, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Ottawa Archbishop Terrence Prendergast, in an interview with Zenit, addressed the challenges faced by religious voters who wish to bring their beliefs to bear during Canada’s election.
The Archbishop spoke about the issues he believes are most relevant to voters, the foremost being the right to life. He referred especially to the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops’ election study guide which gives four main points for consideration for voters, in descending order of importance:
1) The right to life as the foundational principle grounding all others;
2) Giving priority to care for the poor and needy as a mark of respect for the dignity of each person from the moment of conception until natural death;
3) Seeking clarity about the purpose of the war in Afghanistan;
4) Care for the environment as an aspect of the stewardship of creation.
Speaking of the near total lack of debate on abortion in the election campaigning, the Archbishop said, “Except for the introduction of the environment as an issue in the federal electoral campaign on account of the growing popularity of the Green Party, few of the themes enunciated by the bishops have been prominent in pre-election debate. In fact, there seems to be a conspiracy of silence in regard to the abortion question, all parties being either pro-abortion or unwilling to let the matter come up for discussion. This is most frustrating for those who espouse the cause of life.”
Archbishop Prendergast explained that consideration of a candidate should be based on that person’s values and principles, and not on which party he or she represents.
“Electing even a small minority in the House of Commons with sound ethical considerations will open the door to the possibility of affirming life, for example, through introducing legislation to reduce and eventually proscribe abortion, or in preventing legislation to introduce euthanasia as a beginning. The steadfastness in witnessing to life will, I believe, ultimately prevail because it is of God,” the Archbishop said.
The Archbishop’s concern over the biased and agenda-driven coverage by the mainstream media of pro-life and religious freedom issues prompted him to mention the lack of coverage of this year’s March for Life.
“The MSM in effect sets the tone of what gets discussed; I discovered this last May when last year’s largest demonstration on Parliament Hill – the March for Life – received not a single mention in the MSM. Morning news reports urged people to avoid streets around the Peace Tower that afternoon because of a demonstration, without mentioning what the demonstration was about. A procession of 150 Falun Gong demonstrators merits front-page coverage; an 8,000-strong “March for Life” becomes a nonevent. We have much work to do to make the truth known.”
The Archbishop concluded by encouraging Catholics to express to politicians, in no uncertain terms, the concerns that people of faith consider urgent.
“We need to become courageous in making known our concerns about life, the family and marriage to those campaigning for public office.”
The link to Archbishop Prendergast’s full interview is available here: https://www.zenit.org/article-23827?l=english