I take letters to the editor seriously. Particularly ones like the letter printed this month from AIDS Calgary, accusing me of misinforming and deliberately misleading readers to promote “bigotry” and “ignorance.” In the April editorial I referred to AIDS as a homosexual disease, and I believe I was right to do so. Since the AIDS virus was first identified – and named [...]
“The thoughts of youth are long, long thoughts.” I can’t remember who wrote those words but they are part of a poem I learned in school more than 60 years ago. I recalled them recently when reading a historical novel by Ken Follett entitled Wings of Eagles. It is a story of the rescue of two American businessmen who had been imprisoned [...]
St. John’s Newfoundland Elizabeth House, a home for unwed mothers in St. John’s, was opened in 1980 when a two-story house was donated to the local Right to Life Association by the Sisters of Mercy. The facility has accommodated about 20 expectant mothers every year since it’s opening. They are limited to five mothers at a time by local housing by-laws. [...]
As we all know, laws, and amendments to laws are made by the politicians; and politicians are influenced by you – the voter! All of us who are 18 or over should be aware of our individual power to influence our Members of Parliament. At the last Pro-Life Policy Conference there was a seminar on “Political Lobbying Do’s and Don’ts” by Sue [...]
From a sermon on charity by Saint Basil the Great, bishop (330-379) Sow integrity for yourselves Man should be like the earth and bear fruit; he should not let inanimate matter appear to surpass him. The earth bears crops for your benefit, not for its own, but when you give to the poor, you are bearing fruit which you will gather in [...]
Two headlines in the Denver Post (June 15, 1986) highlighted the importance of the 1986 National Right to Life Convention: “Candidates fully aware of Right to Life’s political force,” and “Right to Life Group potential political force.” For three days, June 12 to 14, the usual workshops, displays and major speeches had been part of the annual Convention in Denver, Colorado, but [...]
In April of 1969 they issued the following clarification which deserves as much publicity as their first declaration, although it has received scarcely any publicity at all: “We cannot close our minds to the reactions of a certain segment of the public, both within our communion and outside of it, which appear to have distorted in some degree our pastoral application of [...]
Part V: Catholic moral theologians The Catholic Church in Canada is under serious strain, this for two reasons: an accommodation to irreligion among many of the faithful and the growth of dissent among theologians. This last aspect forms the subject of Part V of this series. Dissent and sexuality Dissent among Catholic theologians in the Western world is most pronounced in the [...]
Our Family, a Catholic monthly, is in trouble with the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission, following its publication of an article critical of homosexual activity. “A Psychoanalytic Look at Homosexuality and AIDS,” published in the February issue, was written by Melvin Anchell M.D., a Californian psychoanalyst with 40 years’ experience in psychiatry and medicine. Dr. Anchell maintains that homosexuality is neither glandular nor [...]
In a precedent-setting case, a British Columbia woman has been awarded $10,000 damages against a doctor who failed to abort her twins, now seven years old. In 1978, Beverley Hack, a 17 year old high school student, underwent a suction and curettage abortion, performed by Dr. Ellen Wiebe, at Vancouver’s Shaughnessy. She was in her fifth week of pregnancy, having become pregnant [...]
On Monday, August 4, The Toronto Star told us through Walter Stefaniuk, that peace, tranquility, and, let’s not forget, prosperity have returned to Harbord Street. The smiling faces of three local business people assured us of this return. It should be noted that The Star was careful to rehearse the lies and distortions of a notice which some businesses had chosen to [...]
Teachers for Life’s participation in the recently-held Pro-Life Policy Conference in Toronto brought this new organization into the limelight. The Globe and Mail, in particular, seemed incensed that such a group should exist. The following is how Dr. David Dooley analyzed the Globe’s attitude in a conference seminar. “Abortion and the media” The aims of Teachers for Life, as set forth in [...]
On May 20, as part of their annual general meeting, the North Toronto Chapter of the Association of Professional Engineers of Ontario (APEO) presented what was advertised as a “panel discussion” titled “Limits to Growth – An Update” in a suite at The Inn on the Park hotel in Toronto. The advertisement further stated this would be a panel discussion “comparing predictions [...]
Fr. Ted Colleton has been found not guilty on a charge of mischief brought by the operators of the Morgentaler abortuary in Toronto. The charge relates to an incident on April 9th in which Fr. Colleton padlocked the back gate of the abortuary with a "Kryptonite" - type bicycle lock. The police who witnessed the padlocking refused to lay a charge against [...]
On Tuesday, July 15th, yet another Catholic priest was arrested for his activities at the illegal Harbord Street abortuary. Father Giovanni, a parish priest from Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Labrador City, Newfoundland, was charged with trespassing when he followed a client into the abortuary and made his way up to the second floor. When he refused to leave and insisted [...]