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Despite Pleas, Ontario Bishop Refuses to Direct Catholic School on Amnesty International

Local branch of AI still meets regularly in Sault Ste. Marie Catholic High School

Hilary White

SAULT STE. MARIE, Ontario, September 7, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Despite ratifying its parent organization's decision to support abortion as a human right, the local branch of Amnesty International in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario still meets regularly at St. Basil Secondary Catholic School. 

Since the AI decision was announced this spring, two Catholic bishops in the UK have joined the Vatican in condemning the move. Cardinal Renato Martino, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, insisted that Catholics and Catholic organizations "must" withdraw support from Amnesty.

The Trustees of the Huron-Superior Catholic District School Board (HSCDSB) will meet Wednesday to discuss whether Amnesty International can still use the school and have asked their bishop for guidance.

The bishop of Sault Ste. Marie and the Trustees, however, seem to be playing an almost comical game of continuous pass-the-buck over whether Amnesty's decision to support the killing of unborn children is serious enough to warrant the group being asked to take its room rental fees elsewhere.

Board chairman Marchy Bruni told the local media that the Trustees are waiting on guidance from Bishop Jean-Louis Plouffe, while the bishop has said the decision is up to the Board. Bruni told the Sault Star on Wednesday, "It depends what information will be coming back from the bishop and from every other organization that we've been requesting information."

Bishop Plouffe responded to the Sault Star that he will "very clearly" restate the Church's teaching on abortion, available in every Bible and Catholic catechism. However, the bishop has so far declined to say if he will give the Board the direction they are requesting as to whether the Church's already well-known teaching requires any particular action to be taken on the situation at hand.

"There is absolutely no intervention in the process of life from conception to natural death," Plouffe said.

The bishop told the Star the decision is a "prudential" one that must be taken by the Board. Plouffe was only willing to pose the question, "By allowing Amnesty International to hold meetings in our school are we jeopardizing the teaching of our church on respect for life issues?"

The Board, however, is as aware of the Church's teaching on abortion as is the rest of the world. Sharon McMillan, the Board of Trustee's media relations co-ordinator said that the members are aware that this is a "Church issue." McMillan said, "We don't set direction on church teachings. That comes from the bishops."
 
Thus far, however, there has been no official response from any Canadian bishop on Amnesty's decision and the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops has also so far maintained a silence.

Two UK bishops, one, the Cardinal Archbishop of Edinburgh, Keith O'Brien, have publicly quit the organization after decades of membership and have condemned its transformation into an abortion lobby group.

Bishop Plouffe's unwillingness to exercise his authority as a bishop on public moral controversies related to Church teaching was also revealed in 2005. Then Parliament was preparing to abolish the legal definition of marriage. One of Bishop Plouffe's flock, NDP MP Tony Martin, decided to vote in favour of "same-sex marriage". Plouffe's reaction to Martin's announcement was to express his worry that any statements he made would be seen as him being "against homosexuals."

Plouffe told LifeSiteNews.com, "I personally think we ought to be very sensitive, I don't like to ostracize or excommunicate people in public. I don't think its up to me to ban people from communion, I think my job is to try to convince them that marriage is a covenant between a man and a woman."

Bishop Plouffe was careful to stress, "I hope I would not be interpreted as being against homosexuals. I feel that if the homosexual community feels that they are being deprived unjustly in the present system, or reality that we live now, I think the government could make an effort to address this without changing the definition of marriage."

To contact the Trustees of the Huron-Superior Catholic School Board

90 Ontario Avenue,
Sault Ste. Marie,
P6B 6G7
Phone  - (705) 945-5400
1-800-267-0754,
Fax - (705) 945-5575
e-mail -  FrontDesk@hscdsb.on.ca.

Chairman: Marchy Bruni (705) 949-9187
mbruni@hscdsb.on.ca.

John Caputo (705) 942-0178
jcaputoj@hscdsb.on.ca

Regis O'Connor (705) 779-2483
ro'connor@hscdsb.on.ca

Grace Tridico (705) 254-3725
gtridico@hscdsb.on.ca

Laurie Aceti (705) 949-7985
laceti@hscdsb.on.ca

Gerald Beerkens (705) 856-2451
gbeerkens@hscdsb.on.ca

Sandra Turco (705) 253-4070
sturco@hscdsb.on.ca

Lindsay Liske (705) 869-1401
lliske@hscdsb.on.ca

Kathleen Rosilius (705) 461-3582
krosilius@hscdsb.on.ca

Conrad Bobiwash (705) 356-1396
cbobiwash@hscdsb.on.ca

Read related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:

Sault Ste. Marie Bishop Leaves Decision to Support Amnesty to School Trustees
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/sep/07090409.html

Catholic Sault Ste Marie MP Announces Support for Same Sex Marriage
 http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2005/jan/05011408.html

Vatican: Catholics and Catholic Organizations "Must" Withdraw Support of Amnesty International over Abortion Support
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/jun/07061401.html

Abortion Fallout: Scottish Cardinal is 2nd Bishop to Quit Amnesty International
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/aug/07082807.html

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