On Sunday July 12, the Toronto Knights of Columbus organized a “Crusade for Life” Mass at St. Michael’s Cathedral. The main celebrant and homilist was Father Ted Colleton. The Mass was in response to the call put forth by Supreme Knight Virgil Dechant, who has pledged to use the “resources and manpower” of the Knights to defeat abortion.
“We are convinced that the time to act is now,” Dechant declared, “that the witness of a Catholic family organization such as ours can galvanize all men and women of good will to enter the fray – that we have the energies and resources to see this battle through…What remains for us is to harness our clout for the unborn, to aim it in a unified direction; and to follow through to the finish.”
However, based on the low attendance (perhaps due to poor publicity for the event among the Knights), the Toronto Knights did not appear to be galvanized into action and that was the topic of Father Colleton’s homily. The homily consisted of two parts.
The first was on the importance of prayer in defeating abortion and the second on the importance of action and witnessing. Father Colleton did not mince words, and exhibited his disappointment at the lack of action by the Knights in lobbying to get the illegal abortuaries of Toronto closed. He challenged them to get off their butts; go see Ian Scott; fight implementation of the Powell Report; picket the abortuaries and get involved taking a leadership role.
He ended by saying that if he could not discern any change in attitude and action in the Knights towards defending the unborn, he would publicly tear up his membership card in six months. A number of Knights present later told him they would do likewise. Father was given a standing ovation for his homily.
