By Patrick B. Craine
QUEBEC, August 18, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The infamous dissident priest Fr. Raymond Gravel of the Joliette diocese has again published an article criticizing Cardinal Marc Ouellet’s efforts to bring Christian truth into the public square. At the same time it has been revealed that he was scheduled to celebrate a “Pride” Mass in Montreal this past Sunday, the Catholic feast of the Assumption.
In an article published at L’action.com, the priest criticizes the homily that Cardinal Marc Ouellet, the former archbishop of Quebec, gave at his farewell Mass in Ste. Anne de Beaupre on Sunday.
“The message of truth is not always welcome,” Ouellet said in that homily. “It’s a suffering for he who hears and sometimes for the minister who expresses it.”
“What truth is he speaking about? That of Christ in the Gospel or his own?” shot back Fr. Gravel. “As written by a fellow priest on the blog of Le Devoir: ‘The message of truth is always welcome when one makes appeal, inquiry and not condemnation and contempt.’”
According to Fr. Gravel, the truth should not bring suffering to the one hears it, nor to the one expressing it. If it does, he says, “it may not be the gospel truth, since it does not bring peace and does not favour justice at all.”
In his eight years as archbishop of Quebec and Primate of Canada, Cardinal Ouellet came to be seen as one of the strongest defenders of faith and traditional religious values; but he also met strong criticism for his public positions both inside and outside of the Church. Fr. Gravel has perhaps been the most vocal critic, particularly in the last few months, during which his numerous denunciations of the cardinal have approached the level of a concerted campaign against the cleric.
This effort by Gravel began in May after the cardinal made public statements affirming the sanctity of the unborn, even in cases of rape. Fr. Gravel told media that such a view is “deplorable.” “It’s as if women were nothing and what is important is to save their fetus, however it was conceived,” he said. “We are dealing with rape here.”
In his article on Tuesday, Fr. Gravel asked, “How is it that the Archbishop of Quebec has raised such strong criticism, causing, each time, almost everyone to be against him?”
The cardinal was “often a lone cavalier … in his crusade against abortion, homosexuality, secularism, and the deconfessionalization of the schools,” he writes, saying that Ouellet conducted this “crusade” in a “haughty manner.”
The priest cites a Friday interview with Bishop Martin Veillette, the head of the Quebec Bishops’ Assembly, in which the bishop suggested the cardinal was out of touch with Quebec society. Veillette criticized Ouellet’s public interventions by claiming that “there are times when it is more important to keep silent than to speak.”
“To say that postmodern Quebec has lost its bearings and that it has become immoral or relativistic, is not to understand the evolution of Quebec society,” Fr. Gravel writes.
Within the same article, Fr. Gravel praised the “recognition of the rights of homosexuals” as “an advance that allows all people to live in respect and dignity.”
At the same time, in a recent notice on the webpage of the group “Network of Believers for Inclusivity,” the group invited people to attend a “traditional”“Pride Mass” at 10:30 am. last Sunday, which would be celebrated by Fr. Gravel. The previous day the same group, representing St. Peter the Apostle Parish, participated in gay pride celebrations by setting up a booth.
Contact Information
Most Rev. Gilles Lussier, Bishop of Joliette
2, rue Saint-Charles-Borromée Nord
C.P. 470
Joliette, Québec J6E 6H6
Tel: (450) 753-7596
Fax: (450) 759-0929
E-mail: [email protected]
Archbishop Pedro López Quintana, Apostolic Nuncio to Canada
724 Manor Avenue
Ottawa, ON KIM OE3
Phone: (613) 746-4914
Fax: (613) 746-4786
William Cardinal Levada, Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
Piazza del S. Uffizio, 11, 00193 Roma, Italy
Fax: 06.69.88.34.09
E-mail: [email protected]
(Mail or fax is most effective.)
Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops
2500 Don Reid Drive
Ottawa, Ontario K1H 2J2
E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: (613) 241-9461
Fax: (613) 241-9048