Is Novalis questioning the humanity of the fetus and endorsing divorce?

Novalis is a "Catholic" publishing company based at St. Paul's University in Ottawa.  In the past two weeks, I came across some troubling stuff in their French daily missalette.

If you know anything about St. Paul's, you'll understand why I put the word "Catholic" between quotation marks.  While St. Paul's used to be a world-renowned Catholic institution several decades ago, it is now more renowned for it's liberal brand of Catholicism.  In an effort to increase enrollment, the university has diluted the teaching in order to welcome Christians from all denominations.  Tragically, successive Archbishops of Ottawa have done little or nothing to fix the problem.  There are still good teachers there, but there's too much crap.  It's not a safe place for a beginner to learn about theology or philosophy.  

Novalis is best known for the daily missalette called "Living With Christ" (in French it's called "Prions en Église").  But they produce a wide variety of other books too.   In 2004, they caused quite a stir among faithful Catholics when

Is there a Canadian "Bishop Tobin" anywhere?

I've written a couple of posts about Bishop Thomas Tobin of Rhode Island, who told pro-abortion policitian Patrick Kennedy (son of Ted Kennedy) to not receive communion.  Bishop Tobin isn't making up some strict rules here.  He's just doing his job.  The Vatican ordered that such politicians are to be instructed not to receive communion, and if they present themselves at the communion rail they should be denied communion.  No ifs, buts or maybes.  No exceptions.  Read the key passages of Cardinal Ratzinger's instructions here.  It's sad that we have to cheer a bishop or priest when he actually complies with the minimum requirements of his job.  That's the sad state of the Church today. 

Canada has it's own "Patrick Kennedy".  His name is Justin Trudeau, son of the famous Pierre Elliot Trudeau.  He claims to be Catholic, like his father, yet he's vigorously pro-abortion and pro-homosexuality.   He's a Liberal Member of Parliament for the riding of Papineau.

So the burning question on everybody's lips is:  will any bishop tell him not to receive communion?  

Hmmmm... Let's see now.  The Parliament buildings are in the Archdiocese of Ottawa, which is part of the jurisdiction of Archbishop Terrence Prendergast.  The riding of Papineau is on the Island of Montreal, which falls under Cardinal Turcotte.  

I understand that these bishops need not make a public statement about this.  They only need to speak privately to Justin Trudeau and to the clergy in their dioceses to give instructions on not giving communion.  I just hope that

Is money all that matters to the CCCB regarding Development and Peace?

John Pacheco at SoCon or Bust just wrote another insightful article on the Development and Peace (D&P) scandal.  Click here to read it.

Media reports following the Plenary of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) had some coverage of the D&P affair, although we really don't know what happened because all the important discussions were held behind closed doors.

Among the public comments that we know of, Bishop Richard Grecco (Charlottetown) presented a report that whitewashed D&P of any wrongdoing. That part isn't surprising.  What shocked me was the report's assessment of the toll that this scandal has taken:

"Among the individual and regular monthly donors to DEVELOPMENT AND PEACE, we have had 34 individuals (of our 6,110 donors) cancel their monthly contributions as a direct result of the controversy, representing 0.5% of our donor database." (Source)

The reason that donations were so little affected is partly due to the fact that most pro-life Catholics stopped donating to D&P years ago because of other scandals.  

But there is a more fundamental issue here.  Is that how Catholic bishops should assess a controversy, by its financial cost?  

What about the sufferings of thousands of faithful Catholics that have become disillusioned and

Two Canadian bishops begin un-scandalizing the faithful

Two of Canada's strongest Archbishops, Terrence Prendergast (Ottawa) and Thomas Collins (Toronto), started the work of undoing some of the damage done by more liberal bishops on the Development and Peace (D&P) scandal. The manner in which they intervened is a HUGE development, unprecedented in the recent history of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB).   

First let me summarize the facts (h/t LifeSiteNews.com), then I'll tell why this is so significant.

• On October 20th, an initial report on the D&P scandal was presented at the Plenary of the CCCB by the bishop of Charlottetown, Richard Grecco.
• Among other things, the report said that D&P "came under a concerted Internet-based media attack by certain militant advocacy groups and individuals, alleging that DEVELOPMENT AND PEACE was financing and promoting abortion programs and advocacy through our partner network."
• According to the agenda, no discussion was scheduled to take place among the bishops at that time.  Debate was to occur later in the week.
• Nevertheless, Archbishop Prendergast and Archbishop Collins both raised objections at the conclusion of the presentation of the report.
• Initially, the CCCB President Archbishop Weisgerber (Winnipeg), who chaired the meeting, attempted to stop any public debate.
• Archbishop Prendergast still spoke up and said that the bishops of Ontario were very concerned with the situation. He referred to a letter circulated to bishops from D&P, saying that he felt that here the bishops were being asked to continue with "business as usual" with D&P. The Ottawa Archbishop added: "I'm not sure we can accept that." 
• Again Archbishop Weisgerber interjected to note that they were only to be discussing the current report. 
• Then Archbishop Collins spoke up.  He said that there were problems with the report as presented because it misrepresented or misunderstood the criticisms of D&P by claiming that they were accused of "financing and promoting abortion programs and advocacy." He pointed out that D&P was "not accused of that," thus suggesting revising the report. "It is important," he said, "to be accurate." He continued: "When one is criticized it is important to either admit when the criticism is just or prove that it's not." He concluded, "It's important to I think listen to what the criticism is." 
• Archbishop Weisgerber had a very brief exchange with Bishop Grecco acknowledging they would reconsider the wording in the report.

What exactly happened here?

Most obviously, the events show that there are bishops in the CCCB who are very unhappy with D&P. We already knew this, so that's not a big revelation. But it's comforting to get a reminder.  ;-)

The biggest lesson of this incident is that these two Archbishops were so upset about the scandal caused among the faithful that they felt the need to publicly break ranks with the other bishops and go on record, publicly, as disapproving of how this scandal is being managed.  This has not been witnessed in the CCCB in a long time.  

Think about it:  they could have waited until the private discussion to raise their objections.  They could have settled the issues behind closed doors.  But they felt compelled to cause a scene before the reporters so that the faithful could have a public and visible witness to the effect that some bishops are not swallowing this.  This is clearly a wink and a nudge to those faithful Catholics out there who've been floored by the CCCB's handling of the scandal so far.  The two Archbishops are essentially saying:  "My dear flock, we have not abandoned you.  Your angst has not gone unnoticed.  We're going to fight this alongside you."

Trust had been broken, so the trust had to be rebuilt.  Archbishops Prendergast and Collins took a major step in that direction and they should be praised for their courage. 


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Divisions start to emerge among bishops over Development and Peace

This is certainly a positive sign for the future of the Church in Canada. Archbishops Collins and Prendergast have definitely stepped up to the plate and assumed some leadership. I am sincerely grateful to both of them for this strong pro-life witness.

Let's pray that God's will be done.

Archbishop Prendergast shines again

The 40 Days for Life movement in Ottawa will hold a mid-point rally this Tuesday, October 13, at 6 pm. It will take place at Ground Zero (across from 65 Bank Street). Why don't you come and join us?

It is wonderful to hear that Archbishop Prendergast will be among us and will preside a Mass at 7 pm at St. Patrick's Basilica.

Thank you, your Grace, for standing with us. We love you dearly!

Thanks again, Archbishop Prendergast

Just a quick note to thank Archbishop Prendergast of Ottawa for participating in the Life Chain this past weekend.  

We admire your dedication to the cause of life and we rejoice to have you stand by our side on the front lines.

May God bless you!