QUEBEC CITY, May 27, 2014 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The highest ranking prelate in Quebec is the first bishop in the French-language province to come out publicly on the matter of Liberal Party Leader Justin Trudeau. In comments to the Journal de Quebec, Jasmin Lemiex-Lefebvre, spokesman for Cardinal Gerald Lacroix, said “it is certain that Cardinal Lacroix agrees with Cardinal Collins and the spirit of his letter.”
In the letter to Trudeau earlier this month, Toronto Cardinal Thomas Collins expressed his deep concern with Trudeau’s insistence that all Liberal candidates support the “right to choose” abortion. Collins noted that had Pope Francis chosen a different vocation he would himself be denied the opportunity to run as a Liberal.
Even though the comment from Cardinal Lacroix may seem small, in Quebec it is a rarity to see the Church speaking out in this way. “To my knowledge, the last time a bishop in Quebec made a Quebec media pronouncement on something related to abortion, it was in 2010 when Cardinal Ouellet re-affirmed the dignity of human life, even when conceived in rape,” said Georges Buscemi President of the Quebec pro-life group Campagne Quebec Vie. “Before that it was when Cardinal Turcotte returned his Govenor General's award the year abortionist Henry Morgentaler received it in 2008.”
“Neither of these declarations, however, were strictly-speaking political in nature,” added Buscemi. “This affirmation from the Quebec diocese's chancery gets at the heart of the political abortion debate, something the church in Quebec has not done in many years, even decades.”
Since he replaced Cardinal Marc Ouellet, now the head of the Vatican’s Congregation for Bishops, Cardinal Lacroix has followed in his predecessor’s footsteps in outspokenness on life issues. A regular at the Canadian National March for Life in Ottawa, earlier this month Cardinal Lacroix read out a greeting from Pope Francis to the 23,000 strong rally on Parliament Hill.
As Lacroix read the message, he seemed remarkably unperturbed as he was interrupted by a topless woman protester who rushed the podium area and shouted “f*** your morals!” The woman was taken away and the cardinal continued reading.
The march came one day after Trudeau’s inflammatory remarks, which have thus far been publicly condemned by five Canadian bishops apart from Cardinal Lacroix.
Flanked by 21 members of parliament and the senate, Cardinal Lacroix concluded his remarks at the March for Life, saying, “It’s a joy to be here together today once a year but I'm very proud that all year long we continue to help people around us to respect life and we are committed in our own homes, families, parishes, and in our cities and towns, to be lovers of life.”
Contact information:
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His Eminence Gérald Cyprien LACROIX Archbishop of Québec |
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1073, boul. René-Lévesque Ouest Québec (QC) G1S 4R5 CANADA |
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Tel: Fax: Web Site: |
(418) 688-1211 #210 (418) 688-2960 |