In Canada, the only similar example that comes to mind among active bishops is Fred Henry of Calgary. Even though Bishop Henry supports the Winnipeg Statement, he nonetheless was very vocal on the issue of denying communion to Catholic politicians engaged in grave sin. For example:
- In 2004, he said John Kerry, the presidential candidate, should be denied communion because of his anti-life positions.
- In 2005, he enunciated the same principle, without referring to any specific politician, during a testimony before the Canadian Parliament regarding the bill to legalize same-sex marriage. An NDP member grilled him about it (no surprise) but Bishop Henry held his ground admirably.
- In fact, in 2003, Bishop Henry had been so blunt as to suggests Mr. Chrétien was jeopardizing his "eternal salvation" by trying to change the definition of marriage!
Good show! We need to celebrate these success stories and applaud them. At the time, I remember sending an email to Bishop Henry to thank him for his strong witness. We need more of this.
However, all is not sunny in Calgary. Even as Bishop Henry was denouncing same-sex marriage in 2003, he didn't appear to realize that his approval of contraception, as per the Winnipeg Statement, is inconsistent with his position on homosexual behaviour. You see, once the notion of sterilized sex became widely accepted through contraception, the legalization of homosexual marriage was the next logical step in the progression. Once society separates the unitive and the procreative, why wouldn't same-sex marriage be okay? John Pacheco explains it very well in this post.
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