PRO-LIFE CANADIAN JOURNALIST ORDAINED TO PRIESTHOOD

KINGSTON, ON, July 22, 2002 (LSN.ca) – National Post occasional religion columnist Raymond J. de Souza was ordained to the Roman Catholic priesthood on Saturday, as World Youth Day festivities that he is chronicling in the National Post get underway in Toronto.  A year ago, De Souza wrote one of the most incisive commentaries on Canadian politics from a pro-life perspective in First Things magazine. He wrote: “Jean Chrétien … was re-elected last November 27—his third straight majority government. That was expected. The surprise was that the so-called moral and religious questions—abortion, homosexuality, public funds for private religious schools—were being discussed at all. Social conservatism was on the agenda in Canada for the first time. That alone was a notable step forward, even if social conservatives got hammered with intemperate and bigoted attacks such as are rarely seen in this nation known for its niceness. … The Canadian Alliance paid the price for being against abortion, but its pro-life position was so weak that it did not attract voters who are troubled by the more extreme aspects of the abortion license in Canada.”  To read De Souza’s commentary on the 2000 Canadian general election see: https://www.firstthings.com/ftissues/ft0103/opinion/desouza.html   See De Souza’s article from the front page of the Saturday National Post:  https://www.canada.com/search/site/story.asp?id=408C3B42-664C-4ACA-80E3-56D68AE7FE81   To read Mark Cameron’s reflections on De Souza’s July 20 ordination see: https://www.markcameron.blogspot.com/2002_07_21_markcameron_archive.html#79227057