|
Published: August 4, 2009
Canadian Bishops Split on Charity Money
Church Funds went to Abortion Supporters
An apparent split has developed among Canadian Catholic bishops over the Canadian Church’s overseas development arm “Development and Peace.” D&P is the Canadian version of the US bishops’ Catholic Relief Services.
 On March 12, 2009, the online newspaper LifeSiteNews ran the first of a series of stories which included documentary evidence showing D&P’s funding of organizations supporting abortion and contraception. On April 17, LifeSite detailed D&P funding extending to at least 17 organizations in 10 countries: Benin, Brazil, East Timor, Guinea, Haiti, Mexico, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Peru, and Togo. The article named each organization and specified their activities. The series produced a negative response from some Canadian bishops. In a March 23 letter, James Weisgerber, archbishop of Winnipeg and the current president of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, said that the accusations against D&P were “untrue.” Also on March 23, Archbishop Daniel Bohan of Regina, called the reports both “false” and “malicious.” But the evidence LifeSite compiled was compelling enough to provoke an extraordinary May 28, 2009 letter from the bishops of Peru to the Canadian bishops, formally requesting the Canadian bishops to cease funding groups in Peru which support contraception/abortion:
“Each (funded) group either explicitly endorses abortion, and/or contraception, either by name or by its various euphemisms like ‘sexual and reproductive rights’ or some derivation thereof,” wrote the Peruvian bishops. “In that sense, we respectfully would like to formally request that the funding for the pro-abortion groups in Peru by the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace be halted.”
The Peruvian bishops also wrote: “It is very disturbing to have groups which work against the bishops of Peru by attempting to undermine legal protection for the right to life of unborn children, be funded by our brother bishops in Canada.”
On June 18, Archbishop Martin William Currie of St. Johns, and Bishop Francois Lapierre of Saint-Hyacinth, writing for the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, responded to LifeSite’s 60-story series with a two and one-half page report. The short report, which was “assisted” by D&P officials, referred to “allegations” by LifeSite, ignoring the fact that the LSN articles were not “allegations” but presented documentary evidence that the funding of the organizations had occurred. The bishops’ report did not mention the letter from the Peruvian bishops. Further, the bishops’ report only examined the instances where D&P had funded organizations that support abortion/contraception in Mexico. It ignored the other 9 countries involved. However, the report did criticize LifeSite:
“We make an urgent appeal to the leadership of Lifesite News that it establish an open and fruitful dialogue with Canadian Catholic groups. We are convinced that when a group makes allegations, accusations and denunciations against another, this can bring nothing positive to our Church and is a counter-witness to that Gospel spirit.”
 But the LifeSite series does appear to be bearing fruit. On March 17, Archbishop Thomas Collins of Toronto, the largest archdiocese in Canada, issued a statement calling for an investigation of D&P: “Development & Peace has not as yet received its funding from ShareLife for 2009. Be assured I will not allow any money raised in the archdiocese of Toronto to be used for pro-abortion activities or organizations.”
On March 25, Bishop Nicola De Angelis of the diocese of Peterborough, joined Archbishop Collins: “On the example of other dioceses, we have contacted Development & Peace to express our deep concerns and have asked that they address this extremely serious matter immediately.” His Excellency also said: “Be assured I will not allow any money raised in the Diocese of Peterborough to be used for pro-abortion activities or organizations.” Other Canadian bishops have echoed this position.
Since these statements were made nearly two months before the bishops’ report was issued, the report itself seems somewhat behind the curve. On July 22, Archbishop Collins followed up. He said that all funds from the Archdiocese of Toronto earmarked for D&P will now only be given to organizations approved by the local bishop: “We will set aside $1,125,000, which will be available for projects of Development and Peace which are operated by organizations endorsed by local bishops.” That stipulation would bring D&P in line with the US bishops’ Catholic Relief Services.
His Excellency also called for a “thorough review” of D&P. “(I)n this coming year there needs to be a comprehensive review of the organization, including its mandate, its governance and organizational structure, its policies and protocols related to the funding of projects, and the instruments of communication linking Development and Peace and the Canadian bishops…It is vital that this coming year be one in which Development and Peace experiences profound renewal, and the depth of that renewal will determine its future,” he said. “Future ShareLife funding for Development and Peace will depend upon our assessment of the degree to which the issues that concern us have been resolved.”
Some Canadian clergy are more vehement. Fr. Alphonse de Valk, editor of CatholicInsight.com said: D&P “…has always been driven by political ideology; in fact, by a political ideology of the left, even more so than by its Catholic religious motivation…let D&P rest in peace for eternity.”
For all of LifeSite’s stories on D&P, click here.
Posted Tuesday, August 04, 2009 4:13 AM By Allan Wafkowski
The Canadian bishops ought to be honest about this and receive the information from LifeSiteNews in a Christian manner. If funding did go toward pro-abortion activities, let them owe up to it and see that the mistake is not repeated. It is not an acceptable path to attack the messenger. Come on fellows, be big boys!
|
Posted Tuesday, August 04, 2009 4:27 AM By Richard Flores
We are called to avoid ANY perception of sin! So, it makes me SICK TO MY STOMACH every time church leadership arrogantly fails to admit to their failures! ALL humans make mistakes. ALL leaders are human...anyone can do that math! The few egomaniacs that are incapable of admitting to their mistakes hurt the church. For them to FALSELY accuse honest organizations is hypocrisy at best and heresy at worse as they claim to be "holy" but they are intentionally bashing the honor of honest people! That is particularly destructive! I would have hoped that the church leadership would had learned from the failed policies regarding the pedophile priests in the US!
Catholics are very understanding when the leaders "fess up" to their mistakes, BUT they do NOT accept hypocrisy and disingenuous behaviors! It seems that the Canadian leadership has NOT figured this out! (It is truly sad that any leader in the church NEEDS to figure this out!)
We deserve better leaders! Christ deserves better leaders! We need to ALL write the Vatican and express our concerns for the disingenuous behaviors of some of the Canadian Bishops! ALL bishops MUST be totally honest at ALL times. It's that simple! They do NOT deserve our respect if they do NOT earn it! We can NOT endure any more dishonest bishops or priests! It is destroying the integrity and credibility of the church in the US! ALL Catholics have a moral obligation to report inappropriate behavior on the part of any Bishop or Priest. That is the only way that we will "clean house" and restore our faith to the credibility that it deserves.
|
Posted Tuesday, August 04, 2009 7:20 AM By JLS
One wonders what fetish may be driving this leftist butchery ... could it be a deep seated and extensive homosexual and/or pedophile aspect to this particular nation's episcopacy? Is it time for an investigation into Canadian corruption?
|
Posted Tuesday, August 04, 2009 9:00 AM By Josie
We have lost our Catholic moorings. The Campaign for Human Development also has funded leftist, anti-Catholic, causes such as ACORN. God Bless Arch. Collins and De Angelis. May God shower them with wisdom and fortitude also Fr. de Valk.
|
Posted Tuesday, August 04, 2009 10:01 AM By Rick DeLano
It would be a very good thing if radical antiChrist communists were not to be allowed to continue masquerading as Catholics.
Especially if the masquerade involves the office of the Bishop.
|
Posted Tuesday, August 04, 2009 10:39 AM By Joseph Boudreau
Thank you to the CCD,for this article on D&P.
Again,this scandal,was'nt handle properly,at the exception,
of none the less,a couple of CCCP.
A Concerne Canadien.
|
Posted Tuesday, August 04, 2009 1:49 PM By Victoria
OH NO!!! I think the Holy Father needs to spank a few Bishops!!! Better still, remove them from power and replace them with men who have the best interests of Our Lord and Our Church in mind. Obviously Their Hearts Are Not In IT.
|
Posted Tuesday, August 04, 2009 7:02 PM By betty
I agree with all of yas. We are all deeply disappointed in church leaders who don't own up to their mistakes, etc. What annoys me just as much is my fellow Catholics who shrug their shoulders and seem to say, "Well, whoever expected them to be honest, humble and all the rest of it anyhow?"
|
Posted Wednesday, August 05, 2009 5:00 AM By Michael O'Neill
It is very clear to me that our Bishops Conference has failed in their managing of D&P.
They should step up to the plate on this and revamp the whole organisation. The letter from Peru is all the proof I need.
|
Posted Thursday, August 06, 2009 7:33 PM By lome
---Pope Leo XIII, Apostolicae Curae, September 13, 1896
The Consilium under the heretic-eventually banished Bugnini, did the same as the Protestants before it. The corrupters of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, changed the Nicene Creed to remove Catholic doctrine on the personhood of the unborn when it deleted the part of the Creed as follows:
The relevant Latin words in the text of the Nicene Creed are 'ET INCARNATUS EST DE SPIRITU SANCTO EX MARIA VIRGINE ET HOMO FACTUS EST'.
These are the words which traditionally were printed in block capitals with an accompanying admonition that while these words are being recited all genuflect.
The authentic translation of these words is
'AND BECAME INCARNATE BY THE HOLY SPIRIT OF THE VIRGIN MARY AND WAS MADE MAN.'
These however are the words which have been suppressed in the vernacular version of the Creed recited in American churches, having been replaced by the following words:
'BY THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT HE WAS BORN OF THE VIRGIN MARY AND BECAME MAN.'
Needless to say these words are in lower case. The essential point to note however is that whereas in the Latin text and in any authentic translation of the Latin text it is affirmed that Christ became 'INCARNATE OF THE VIRGIN MARY AND WAS MADE MAN' in the vernacular text recited in all American churches it is stated merely that he (sic) was born of the Virgin Mary, and became man---the clear implication being that He became man not at His incarnation but at His birth.
|
Posted Friday, August 07, 2009 7:08 PM By Kevin McDonald
D and P clearly erred, those two bishops jumped the gun in absolving D and P but LSNews must take the blame: they could have put all their original allegations and proof in a private letter to their bishop and/or Rome.
Once again the publisher and editor of LSN are putting the pro-life cause ahead of ecclesial unity and basic charity. They have printed scandals before that also need not have gone to print. The church has ways of dealing with the faults LSN found but they were not patient enough or did not have faith in protocol and the canons of the church.
Its sad all around and its a bigger scandal because LSN needlessly went to press instead of the bishop who governs their diocese.
Its a case of "American-Catholicism" the idiotic idea that democracy has any place in our communion. They should be thanked for their diligence but should also learn their lesson that the laws of the church and proper delating take precedence to their desire to get revenge on the flaky lefties at D and P.
Kevin G. P. McDonald
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
|
Posted Sunday, August 09, 2009 9:41 PM By Alfonso
Kevin, Lifesite was helping the bishops. The scandal was the confusion at D&P and the lack of effective accountability. People who love and respect their bishops can still be skeptical of bureaucratic boondoggles and paid office staff. Protocol was followed by the bishops of Peru who wrote to Canada asking the bishops to stop D&P. Would that first and foremost the staff at various religious non-profits understood that they work FOR the Bishops (not their own agenda), the good of the Church and the salvation of souls.
|
Posted Sunday, August 09, 2009 10:44 PM By JLS
Kevin McDonald, it was done your way and that secrecy is why all the corruption. LSNews is exposing the corruption. When the leaders fail to clean house or do charitable actions of governing or ruling, then the laity has to rise up. That is why we have minds and the means to express them in our union with God through Jesus Christ. When the shepherds betray their flocks, the Lord steps in and provides us with what we need to follow Him. It is not a matter of revenge as you so disengenuously accuse, but of helping bring the will of God into action. Obviously you're a disinformation specialist or spin meister for the corrupt bishops ... dude, listen, your evil will not prevail against the Lord ... get used to it.
|
Posted Sunday, August 09, 2009 10:53 PM By JLS
McDonald, you either lie or exhibit an incredible ignorance of Catholicism. Go and read the Gospels for once in your life. Jesus teaches us that when the shepherds try to silence us, then even the stones on the ground will cry out and proclaim His glory. All you are advocating is to silence God. Evil shepherds need their come uppance, and they should at some point at least act like men and stop whining like babies. If they cannot confess and repent, then they are nothing but salt that has lost its flavor (as Jesus says in the Gospel, which you may not have ever heard of, McDonald). As for your totalitarian mindset, stuff it, dude. If you do not like the general laity to speak up, then go look in the mirror and preach your arrogant sissyness to yourself. Looks to me like the Latin American Bishops have kicked your behind pretty darn good. I'm cheering them on. You Canadians throw good priests in jail for preaching God's Word regarding sodomites ... what kind of garbage have you people put in power?
|
Posted Thursday, October 08, 2009 8:27 PM By Kevin G.P. McDonald
I am only advocating that the Catholics at LifeSite obey canon law.
Shame on you here scandalizing others with the heterodoxical idea to make all sins public knowledge. Church law says that Catholics must delate this information privately and to the proper authority.
What I see here is a bunch of AmeriCatholics, that new breed that hangs our dirty laundry in public. I am the past and present of the Church, you are the future I fear, a democracy and a blogosphere church.
If you can't spend the $7.50 it takes to send a registered letter to Rome how can you spend more for monthly internet access?
Do it Rome's way or not at all and that does not mean throwing your hands up and forgetting the issue but being insistent and vigilant-- like Christ's parable of the old woman petitioning the judge.
The Church is not a democracy but she is not a monolith either. We have our own way of dealing with accusations in an absolute monarchy and it is not what you and LSN suggest.
|
© California Catholic Daily 2009. All Rights Reserved.
|