Politics
Monday December 12, 2005
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Calgary Bishop: “Too Many Catholics Have Become Too Complacent and Too Tolerant”
By Gudrun Schultz
CALGARY, Alberta, Dec. 12, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Bishop Frederick Henry, of the Calgary Diocese, called upon Catholics to “push back” against the forces of secularism in our society, in an interview with Zenit news yesterday. In recent years, Henry has been an unusually outspoken public defender of Catholic principles in contrast to the very timid response by most Canadian religious leaders to on-going, serious attacks against traditional Christian culture and beliefs.
“We are not nearly countercultural enough or prophetic enough,” Bishop Henry said, reminding Catholics that they have a responsibility to be a witness of Christ in the midst of the growing secularism of Canadian society.
“Catholics need to feel more obliged than ever not to neglect their duties as citizens in this world. Theirs is the task of contributing with the light of the Gospel to the building of a more human world, a world fully in harmony with God’s plan.”
The Bishop warned that the Church in Canada will face increasing attempts to privatize and marginalize religion, resulting in increased discrimination and restrictions. He suggested that the Human Rights Commissions and Tribunals “will in all likelihood act as the thought-police” in coming years, to enforce politically correct thinking. In March of 2005 a complaint filed with the Alberta Human Rights Commission accused Bishop Henry of discriminating against homosexuals by calling on Catholics to express their opposition to same-sex marriage legislation (see http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2005/mar/05033001.html).
Henry also warned that under the new same-sex marriage legislation, educators will be forced to teach schoolchildren that homosexual and heterosexual unions are morally equivalent. “The argument will be that any other approach would be discriminatory and contrary to the equality rights under s. 15(1) of the Charter and the numerous court cases that have led to the passage of Bill C-38.”
The Calgary bishop stated clearly that Catholic politicians, in particular, have an unavoidable responsibility to bring the fundamental convictions of their faith into their public work.
“In undertaking any public initiative, it is morally incoherent to leave out completely one’s own fundamental convictions…The truth regarding the human person and obligations to uphold this truth do not change when a politician leaves the security of the home and ventures into the secular or political sphere,” Bishop Henry said. “In all that he or she does, the Catholic politician must work to proclaim and put into action the truth about man and the world.”
He also stated that acting in a manner “scandalous to the faithful, harmful to society, and gravely immoral” may eventually lead politicians to lose the right to holy Communion, quoting Canon 915: “Those […] who obstinately persist in manifest grave sin are not to be admitted to holy Communion.”
Bishop Henry emphasized the call to all Catholics to proclaim Jesus Christ to the world, and to “walk with Christ beside men and women of today, supporting them in their difficult search for the truth and making them in some way feel the presence of the Redeemer in everyday life.”
Read the full article on Zenit:
http://zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=81458
See also
Human Rights Complaint Filed Against Catholic Bishop for Defense of Traditional Marriage:
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2005/mar/05033001.html
Calgary Bishop Henry Argues Gay “Marriage” Legislation is a “Betrayal of Children”:
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2005/jun/05062802.html
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