In the October 1991 issue of Insight, the author reviewed the Fully Alive text and raised objections to several features of the program. In this issue, she reviews a text which she finds admirable. A few years ago I met Patricia Puccetti, the author of the Faith and Life series, She said that she could not write a family life program because [...]
As our readers will know by now, one of the three main objections to FA is its graphic and explicit nature from Grade one up. Such an approach can only be approved by those who deny the latency period, or as it is also called, the period of innocence in children, ages six to twelve. One such person is the Most Rev. [...]
We invited Joseph Thompson, a retired high school teacher of religious studies and a father of eleven, living in Sarnia, Ontario to examine Fully Alive at its deepest level – namely the principles of theology which under gird it. Mr. Thompson has both educational and theological credentials. In this perceptive article, the author pinpoints the exclusive emphasis on the Holy Spirit as [...]
Editors of The Interim have met with authorized representatives of the Bishops’ Fully Alive program As readers will note from the comments issued in the name of Bishop O’Mara mentioned above, FA representatives accuse The Interim of having completely misrepresented the program. They assert: (a) that there is no separation of sexuality from moral context in FA and that sin is treated [...]
In 1980, during a Mass celebrating the 150th anniversary of the founding of the paper now called the Catholic Register, Cardinal Carter in his sermon urged bishops to enter the public forum and make their views on controversial questions known. But they could not expect merely to lay down the law; inevitably, he said, their opinions would be challenged and controverted, but [...]
This story, although not about a Canadian mother, is nevertheless typical of the work being done by those who counsel young women to have their babies. Michelle’s sons best Christmas gift this year was his life! Michelle was determined to get an abortion, but friendly pro-lifers got in her way to the abortion ‘clinic. Phoenix Michelle, a pleasant, quiet girl with a [...]
Georgette Gagnon and Dan Rath’s excellent, recently published book, Not Without Cause, chronicles former Ontario Premier David Peterson’s fall from grace. This is a polite way of describing how in the 1990 Ontario election the Liberals crash-dived 57 seats – from 83 to 36. How was it possible a government that enjoyed 50 per cent voter approval 37 days before the election [...]
Families have always been attracted to pro-life events. For a variety of reasons, parents choose to bring their children along to abortuaries, prisons and government centers to challenge to so-called right to abortion. Perhaps it is because parents are very aware of both the joys and difficulties of bringing a new life into this world. Perhaps it is because of their desire [...]
Five years ago Sister Elizabeth Kinsella of the Grey Sisters of Mary Immaculate came to the shocking realization that Ottawa was failing to meet the needs of pregnant teenagers, already overwhelmed not only by their situation, but also the need for shelter, caring for their babies and completing their education. Supported by a board of eight committed individuals, Sister Betty Ann, as [...]
Question: What have a Lutheran pastor, two Baptists and the Knights of Columbus have in common in Cobourg, Ontario? Answer: A desire to help people with problem pregnancies. Interdenominational Beginnings is a Christian interdenominational counseling and adoption service started in Hamilton, Ontario, ten years ago to aid unmarried parents and families for whom the birth of a child may be a burden. [...]
News of Louise Summerhill’s death made me wonder just when and why she founded Birthright, M.P., Toronto, ON. By 1967 Louise Summerhill was already in the struggle against abortion as secretary to an early pro-life group in Toronto (Britain legalized some abortion in 1967 and Canada’s government was pushing to follow suit, which it did in 1969). She heard of the work [...]
On October 21, Saskatchewan voters said “No’ to provincial funding of abortion. The question “Should the government of Saskatchewan pay for abortion procedures?” was answered in the following way: 311,987 opposed, or 62.7 per cent 185,624 in favour, or 37.3 per cent 497,611 (out of some 530,000 voters) At the same time, voters swept aside the nine-year-old PC government of Premier Grant [...]
B.C. New Democrats under rookie leader Mike Harcourt won a solid majority government October 17, gaining three-quarters of the province’s ridings, while the governing Social Credit Party under Premier Rita Johnston plummeted from 41 to 7 seats. Much agonizing over this election had gone on in the ranks of Christian voters. The newly-formed Family Coalition Party (FCP) of B.C., had candidates in [...]
This month, Update – Religion brings an update on the U.S. Catholic scene. The source of much of this information is the U.S. Catholic weekly, the Wanderer. Call for discipline On September 3, Chicago pro-life activist Joseph Scheidler, President of the Pro-Life Action League, and 33 other Catholic met in Rome to present a petition to Pope John Paul Ii, requesting disciplinary [...]
With this issue, The Interim concludes the series of six editorials on what to do about the anti-life philosophy in Canada. What have we said so far? We pointed out that pro-lifers cannot hope to change the current calamitous attitude towards the unborn by pursuing reform placement, step by step, asking for some marginal restrictions on the current death program, while hoping [...]