Only a month ago, Prime Minister Jean Chretien assured Canadians that attempts to legalize same-sex marriage in Canada would not lead to religious persecution in Canada. My how things changed have changed over the summer.
According to a recent article in the Globe and Mail, Bishop Jean-Louis Plouffe of the Diocese of Sault Ste Marie is now under attack by the Canadian political and social elite. Why? Because he had the audacity to clarify Catholic teaching for Catholic politicians who prefer to fudge the issue.
“I don't think a man can allow himself to be divided by his convictions,” the Globe and Mail quotes Bishop Plouffe as having said. “A politician cannot be totally schizophrenic. If he is, he is not being real […] I would expect a Catholic politician would not push away his Catholic convictions because he's a politician. I would expect him to be authentic.”
I know Bishop Plouffe. I grew up in his diocese and he confirmed me as young teenager. It was under his episcopate that my father was ordained to the permanent diaconate. Most Catholic commentators would describe Bishop Plouffe as a moderate progressive — hardly an icon of Canada’s religious right.
And yet, according to the same Globe and Mail article, “The comments by Roman Catholic Church leaders have angered gay-rights activists and other religious groups. ‘It's just appalling,’ said Michael Leshner, who legally wed his partner, Michael Stark, in Toronto in June, Canada's first same-sex marriage. ‘It's sickening, it's obnoxious and it's got to stop.’ […] He accused the Catholic church of preaching ‘religious intolerance,’ adding, ‘The Charter of Rights trumps the Bible.’”
Let us set aside for Mr. Leshner’s arrogance in asserting a sexual legal positivism over the Natural Law. While some might dismiss Mr. Leshner’s threats as empty, I cannot share this optimism. After all, Mr. Leshner is a Crown Attorney, which is the equivalent to District Attorney in Canada’s judicial system. He holds this position in Toronto — Canada’s largest city, and a politically influential one. As such, Mr. Leshner is part of the judicial culture that, in usurping the role of our democratically elected legislature, brought about the legalization of so-called same-sex marriage. Thus reading between the lines, in my opinion Mr. Leshner’s threats ought not be dismissed as those of your average homosexual activist.
Nevertheless, what has Bishop Plouffe done to deserve what appears to be a veiled threat of legal action? Certainly, his words are nowhere as politically incorrect as those of his counterpart in Calgary. Bishop Henry has warned the putatively Catholic Prime Minister that he was “endangering his salvation” in attempting to legalize homosexual marriage. Of course Bishop Henry merely states the obvious, but this is besides the point. Nor is Bishop Plouffe, like Fred Phelps and his fundamentalist Baptist sect, encouraging his flock to picket homosexual funerals with “God hates Fags” placards — an act I know His Excellency would condemn, since the Gospel calls us to conversion.
Rather, Bishop Plouffe simply reminds politicians claiming to be Catholic of their moral obligation to behave as Catholics in Canada’s legislative assemblies. According to the Second Vatican Council, this is one of the three main functions of the Catholic episcopate, namely, to teach the Catholic Faith. Unfortunately, in the opinion of same homosexual legal activist who brought about same-sex marriage, Bishop Plouffe’s words now constitute religious intolerance under a man-made system of law that sees itself as superior to the law of God. So much for our Prime Minister’s promise to protect religious freedom in Canada.
Pete Vere, JCL, earned his ecclesiastical licentiate in canon law from Saint Paul University in Ottawa, Canada. In his spare time, he volunteers as a Deputy Regional Director for the International Order of Alhambra — a Catholic family organization dedicated to serving the needs of the mentally and developmentally challenged.
(This article originally appeared in The Wanderer and is reprinted with permission. To subscribe call 651-224-5733.)
