Ukrainian Catholic Church hosts pro-life seminar
On May 1, St. Josephat’s Cathedral in Toronto was the venue of a pro-life seminar: The Time is Now. The recently ordained Bishop Danylak of the Ukrainian Eparchy celebrated the Mass in the Eastern rite. The liturgy and the gilded icons evoked mystery reflecting a different culture.
The seminar began with June Scandiffio, President of Toronto Right to Life Association, speaking of her pro-life odyssey. It was her young son’s queries that compelled her to confront the horror of abortion and made her decide to combat misinformation about abortion disseminated in the schools.
Since 1970, over 1.3 million abortions have been committed in Canada and consequently over one million women are suffering. Angelina Steenstra spoke of her own struggle with post-abortion trauma. Her decision to destroy her unborn child caused a wound to the core of her being. To ease her anguish, Mrs. Steenstra tried different drugs which only increased her agony. It was a return to her faith, she explained, that gave her the courage to admit the origin of her pain. She now counsels other victims of post-abortion trauma at “Second Chance Ministries” in Scarborough.
Eve Malone, a Natural Family Planning Practitioner, clarified the basis for choosing Natural Family Planning versus contraception. In a sexual relationship between a man and a woman, in particular in the act of marital intercourse, there are two aspects: the procreative and the unitive. Each depends on the other and cannot be separated.
Subsequently a slide presentation on the Creighton Model Natural Family Planning System revealed the 99.6 per cent reliability of this modern means of spacing children. Mrs. Malone concluded by submitting that the practice of natural family planning preserves family integrity and stops the three-pronged (contraception, abortion, euthanasia) assault on our humanity.
Margaret Purcell, national organizer for Campaign Life Coalition (CLC) and editor of Vitality, spoke on the logical conclusion of abortion: euthanasia. “When we assumed the right to kill our children, we automatically gave them the right to kill us,” she explained.
The remainder of the seminar was devoted to hearing a panel of pro-life leaders from Ontario who informed us of how we can protect the lives of unborn children.
Jim Hughes, President of CLC, spoke on political action and encouraged us to join a political party and work towards enacting a pro-life party platform. “Aid To Women,” a crisis pregnancy centre, has saved the lives of 96 babies in the past year, stated director Dick Cochrane. Louis Di Rocco from CLC explained “Life Chain.” Mary Ellen Douglas, a pro-life activist from Kingston, illustrated the success achieved by picketing abortionist offices, homes and hospitals.
In the evening Bishop Danylak showed a spectacular video of the history and feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico. This was followed by a delicious dinner of Ukrainian fare compliments of the Sheptitsky Council of the Knights of Columbus.
A recipe for raising dough
Calling all cooks! Plans are underway to compile a Campaign Life Coalition cookbook. A number of nonprofit organizations have discovered that cookbooks make excellent fundraisers, and CLC believes that such a project is very compatible with our pro-family focus.
We are counting on you, our pro-life family, to offer us your family’s favourite recipes. We are looking for recipes from appetizers to desserts, and everything in between. We hope to include everyday fare as well as recipes for special occasions.
We are also looking for family photos with a culinary theme, from spaghetti-topped babies, to Thanksgiving family dinners.
We have a dedicated group of volunteers ready to taste-test your recipes – all in a goof cause. So, please send us the secrets to your family’s favourite dishes as soon as possible. Our deadline is August 31.
(Recipes and pictures can be sent to: Campaign Life Coalition,53 Dundas St. East,
Suite #306,Toronto,Ontario, M5B 1C6 )
