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Less
than two months ago, Prime Minister Jean Chretien was
assuring Canadians that the legalization of same-sex marriage
in Canada would not lead to religious persecution. Various
religious bodies in Canada would be permitted to continue
holding and teaching their beliefs. My how things changed
have changed over the summer. According to a recent article
in the Globe and Mail, Bishop Jean-Louis Plouffe of the
Diocese of Sault Ste Marie is now under attack by some
among Canada's political and social elite. Why? Because
he had the audacity to take the Prime Minister at his
word and clarify Catholic teaching for Catholic politicians
who prefer to fudge the issue.
"I
don't think a man can allow himself to be divided by his
convictions," the Globe and Mail quotes Bishop Plouffe
as having stated. "A politician cannot be totally
schizophrenic. If he is, he is not being real [...] I
would expect a Catholic politician would not push away
his Catholic convictions because he's a politician. I
would expect him to be authentic." According to this
same article, the words of Bishop Plouffe's counterpart
in Calgary were much more forceful. The Prime Minister
is "endangering his salvation," Bishop Henry
reportedly states.
I
know Bishop Plouffe. I grew up in his diocese and he confirmed
me as young teenager. Under his episcopate, my father
was ordained to the Catholic Church's permanent diaconate.
Most Canadian Catholic commentators like myself would
describe Bishop Plouffe as a moderate progressive - hardly
an icon of Canada's religious right.
And
yet, according to the same Globe and Mail: "The comments
by Roman Catholic Church leaders have angered gay-rights
activists and other religious groups. 'It's just appalling,'
said Michael Leshner, who legally wed his partner, Michael
Stark, in Toronto in June, Canada's first same-sex marriage.
'It's sickening, it's obnoxious and it's got to stop.'
[...] He accused the Catholic church of preaching 'religious
intolerance,' adding,
'The Charter of Rights trumps the Bible.'"
As
a young Canadian social conservative, I have a few choice
words for Mr. Leshner's arrogance in asserting a pan-sexual
hedonistic legal positivism over the wisdom and authority
of the Natural Law. However, I think I will save this
response for an American publication, where at least the
First Ammendment protects my freedom of religion and expression.
For while some might dismiss Mr. Leshner's threats as
empty, I cannot share this optimism.
Mr.
Leshner is a Crown Attorney in Toronto - Canada's largest
city, and one of its most politically influential ones.
As such, Mr. Leshner is part of the judicial culture that
usurped the role of our democratically elected legislature
in bringing about the legalization of same-sex marriage.
Thus in reading between the lines, I am reluctant to dismiss
Mr. Leshner's threats as those of your average homosexual
activist. As he has already shown, he more than capable
of carrying them out in our current milieu of judicial
activism.
Nevertheless,
what has Bishop Plouffe done to deserve what appears to
be a veiled threat of legal action? His words are nowhere
as politically incorrect as those of his counterpart in
Calgary. Nor is Bishop Plouffe, like some fundamentalist
Baptist ministers I have encountered since moving to the
United States, encouraging his flock to picket homosexual
funerals with "God hates Fags" placards. Knowing
His Excellency well, I am certain he condemns such religiously
inspired hate. After all, Christ preaches the Gospel of
Love, calling all sinners to conversion.
Rather,
Bishop Plouffe simply reminds politicians claiming to
be Catholic of their moral obligation to behave as Catholics
in Canada's legislative assemblies. According to the Second
Vatican Council, this is one of the three main functions
of the Catholic episcopate, namely, to teach the Catholic
Faith to the Church's adherents. Almost all religions
make similar requirements of their clergy.
Unfortunately,
in the opinion of at least one prominent homosexual legal
activist, Bishop Plouffe's words now constitute religious
intolerance under a new judicial oligarchy in which the
feelings of sexual minorities trump religious rights and
freedoms. So much for our Prime Minister's promise to
protect religious freedom in Canada. As a young Canadian
social conservative, I feel more secure in the United
States where the First Amendment guarantees my freedom
of religious expression. And unlike Canada's
political leadership, President Bush both respects the
religious convictions of all Americans and possesses the
strength of character to live according to his own.
Pete
Vere, JCL is a canon lawyer and a Catholic social and
religious commentator from Sudbury, Ontario. He now writes
from Nokomis, Florida, where he and his family enjoy no
state income tax along with life within walking distance
of the Gulf of Mexico. His work has been published in
numerous Canadian and American Catholic publications.
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