...No Vatican interference
Part I
United States’ professor attacks Vatican
Dr. Joseph Palacios, adjunct Professor of Liberal and Latin American Studies at Georgetown University (a Jesuit-conducted institution in Washington, DC), attacked the Vatican under the above title in his April 19, 2011 press release. What is the reason?
In March, the Vatican opposed the newly declared gay “rights” at the United Nations. Palacios is the director of Catholics for Equality Education, another group of dissenters trying to destroy the Church from within.
Palacios especially mocks the idea of Archbishop Silvano Tomasi that the real victims are now those who dare to oppose those false “rights” (“they are stigmatized…vilified, and prosecuted” stated Tomasi at the UN Human Rights Council. See “Holy See statement on Sexual Orientation. Human sexuality is not an identity,” C.I., May 2011, p. 28. Website: http://catholicinsight.com/online/church/vatican/article_1128.shtml, April 14).
Palacios is an example of a person who has pushed his earlier religious understanding of creation out of sight and now embraces the immorality of the activist homosexual lifestyle as the new preferred ideology of equality. In his press release, he rejects natural law morality; the (traditional) consensus that anti-social behaviours must be forbidden by law (pedophilia and incest being two examples); the Church’s refusal to accept sexual orientation and gender identity as human rights categories; her refusal to accept any model other than the male-female one as pro-creators in the natural order of biology; and her subsequent non-recognition of LGBT…persons. In other words, Palacios stamps with both feet on the traditional natural law anthropology (which has existed since Jesus Christ) and its recognition of the divinely ordered human family of father, mother and children.
Part II
The new refrain is intolerance
Catholic Insight has reported over the last few years in Canada, that is since Liberal Prime Minister Paul Martin in 2005 decided that “marriage” between persons of the same sex should replace the age-old traditional description of marriage between one man and one woman, that its supporters now want to see this view accepted and acknowledged by all citizens. No more tolerance for non-tolerance. For many years, homosexual activists demanded tolerance out of respect for their “rights.” As news agency Zenit’s Fr. John Flynn recently observed, now that they have won their case in half a dozen countries, “their enthusiasm for tolerance has largely vanished “ (Zenit.org,Feb. 13, 2011). As Catholic Insight put it, the “victims” of all are the bullies of today.
Examples of this intolerance are easily available. A Christian medical doctor in Britain, for example, has been thrown off the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs one month after he had been appointed, because somebody discovered that he co-wrote an article in 2005 where he recorded that pedophiles had a disproportionately greater number of homosexuals than heterosexuals. The co-authored study was called “Gay Marriage and Homosexuality: Some Medical Comments.”
“My appointment has merely been revoked as a result of my views on matters completely unrelated to drug policy,” Dr. Raabe complained in comments published the same day by the Daily Mail newspaper.
Commenting on the previous push to impose acceptance of homosexuality in a Jan. 24 column Daily Mail writer Melanie Philips had lamented: “What was once an attempt to end unpleasant attitudes towards a small sexual minority has now become a kind of bigotry in reverse.”
Also in Britain, family-owned bed-and-breakfast and small hotel establishments run by Christians have been fined for failing to rent accommodations to gays. And a Christian pediatrician lost her claim of religious discrimination when she was fired from an adoption panel for holding that children should not be placed with homosexual couples. She had even agreed to refrain from voting when a case came before the panel which involved gay adoptions but this gesture was in vain.
In Canada, the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal recently ruled that its provincial marriage commissioners could not refuse to perform a “marriage” ceremony for same-sex couples. And in Ontario the current government is forcing the entire school system—public and Catholic, French and English—to acknowledge the homosexual lifestyle as normal and acceptable.
Part III
Monday, April 18:
Toronto Catholic District School Board (TCDSB) Meeting
Campaign Life Catholics stated the purpose of the meeting was to obtain feedback from Catholic parents and stakeholders on the TCDSB’s draft “Equity & Inclusive Education” policy, which has become a source of controversy.
CLCatholics further explained the following: “The government strategy upon which the ‘Catholic template version’ is modelled was written under the direction of then Education Minister, Kathleen Wynne, who is an open lesbian. A significant amount of evidence suggests that Wynne consulted with gay lobby groups such as EGALE and the Coalition for Lesbian and Gay Rights in Ontario (now called Queer Ontario) for the writing of the government strategy document. Among many things it recommends, for example, that schools celebrate the local gay pride parade as “equity related work” They also suggest that every school sets up a homosexual student club, commonly referred to as a GSA (Gay Straight Alliance).
Campaign Life Catholics also recommended these amendments to the TCDSB’s draft policy:
(a) The policy must require the teaching of Catechism section 2357 to students whenever the topic of homosexuality is discussed,
(b) Must expressly prohibit gay-straight alliances (or homosexual clubs by another name). The TCDSB’s “student senate” has already published a document demanding that gay-straight alliances be set up in Toronto’s Catholic schools.
(c) Must prohibit partnerships by the Board with community groups that are not reflective of Catholic moral teaching;
(d) Participation by “student leadership” in forming “equity policy and practices” must be limited to those student voices which are reflective of Catholic moral teaching.
(e) A screening process must be implemented to ensure that only texts/resources/groups which do not contradict Catholic moral teaching in the area of homosexuality are allowed into Toronto’s Catholic schools.
(f) The term ‘Sexual orientation’ must be removed from the TCDSB’s draft policy as a prohibited ground for discrimination.
Part IV
Comments
Here are a few reactions:
I attended last night's TCDSB's consultation meeting on Equity and Inclusive Strategy. It was held at St. Mary Secondary School. The were four panellists including Chris D'Souza who addressed those present. The audience was not permitted to speak or ask questions. Three people who did, had to voice their concerns out loud because there were no microphones for those in attendance.
If you wanted to raise a question, you were told to write the question on a pieceof paper, and at the end of the speakers' talks the moderator chose some of the questions and put them to the panelists.
The message from three of the four panelists was clear: accept the Equity and Inclusivity policy or else face the wrath of OHRC (Ontario Human Rights Commission). If you believe heterosexual relations to be normal, and are not ready to accept open homosexuality in Catholic schools as well as “gay” clubs, then the Ontario Human Rights Commission will soon open your mind to the "truth" because you will have to be indoctrinated and need to find ways of curing any traces of “homophobia.”
We were also told that that there will be no gay clubs or alliances in Catholic schools because they will now call them equity groups. George Orwell must surely be rolling in his grave as doublespeak is alive and well in the Ministry of Education and the TCDSB.
From what I saw last night, Catholic moral teaching with this new policy will be challenged and in the long run rejected. The Ministry of Education needs to be told that Catholic boards have no need for this policy. Both the Ministry and the Board are subverting the language of the Gospel in an attempt to make homosexuality and the sexualization of students "normal", "just" and "loving".
Catholic trustees must be told to reject this policy….Most trustees (seem to) have bought the Ministry propaganda. Write, call or email your Catholic trustee and board administrators before it is too late.
A second attendee noticed the following:
Between one hundred and twenty and one hundred and fifty stakeholders attended the event.
After a short video presentation of Archbishop Collins, the Board presented their four speakers on equity issues: Kirk Mark on the history of equity policies in the Catholic Board, Dr. Ashleigh Malloy speaking about the inclusion of the disabled, Chris d'Souza on the inclusion of those of various sexual orientations and Moira McQueen on Church teaching on the morality of homosexuality. The response of stakeholders was limited to the submission of questions on sticky notes. The notes were viewed by speakers and a few were selected for response by the speakers. How this was meant to effectively allow airing of concerns or real dialogue about the policy (since a number of questions about policy delivered to D'Souza were redirected to the TCDSB staff, for some indeterminate future time) was exquisitely unclear. The event was engineered to control what was said and limit possible disruptions.
Two of us told Superintendant Keyes that parents should not have to walk away knowing their questions had not been answered. They should open up the floor to anyone who wants to ask a question.
D'Souza contended that homophobic bullying is the main type of bullying in the board. Kirk Mark afterward suggested that the number one complaint that comes to the Ontario Human Rights Commission is based on racism, with an intersection with gender and disability. There seems to be a discrepancy about how large a problem homophobic bullying really is within the Board.
D' Souza avoided the direct questions about his support for the gay lifestyle but at the end he finally said that if his daughter wanted to marry a gay woman he would be proud to walk her down the aisle and put her hand into the hand of whoever it was that might love her. Expressions of disbelief as well as polite applause followed this statement.
The Catholic Register’s journalist Sheila Dabu Nonato reported this:
Toronto board’s equity policy draws more fire
TORONTO – “A vocal group of Catholics loudly expressed its concerns that the Toronto Catholic school board’s draft equity policy could undermine Catholic teachings on same-sex relationships.
“About 120 people attended the first equity policy public consultation at St. Mary’s Catholic High School April 18 and heard four panellists speak on the equity policy, including Chris D’Souza, a former equity and diversity officer with the Dufferin Peel Catholic School Board….
“The Toronto Catholic District School Board’s draft policy states that the board “gives pre-eminence to the tenets of the Catholic faith” which are “congruent and compatible with the protections entrenched in the Ontario Human Rights Code, the Constitution Act 1982 and confirmed in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
But Catholic ratepayer Alan Yoshioka said he objected to the lack of strong language in the policy which would ensure it is in line with Catholic teachings. He referred to amendments proposed by Toronto trustee John Del Grande at a previous board meeting to add the words “in a manner consistent with the Catholic faith and Catholic moral teaching” and “unjust” before the word “
“I am a former gay activist, 15 years or more. I disagree with your treating the legitimate need for respect for all students with this imposition of a policy and groups that focus on sexual orientation,” he said. “Love and respect for students is fine. (The issue is) how is that going to be implemented?”
A Catholic school policy that contradicts Catholic teachings “is not acceptable,” he said to loud applause.
Others questioned the need for the equity policy and some objected to D’Souza’s views on homosexuality….
“My wife and I,” said D’Souza, “took our two (daughters) and son to church on Sunday. And I looked at them and thought to myself, ‘If one of them is gay, I would still proudly walk them down the aisle and put their hand in the hand of whoever they fall in love with because I love them.’
Part V
Memorandum between Archbishop and School official Friday, April 15, 2011
On Friday, April 15th, the following document was published:
MEMORANDUM
To: Ontario Catholic Education Organizations
From: Archbishop Thomas Collins, President
Assembly of Catholic Bishops of Ontario
Nancy Kirby, President, Ontario Catholic School Trustees’ Association
Subject: Enhancement of Caring for All Students in the Spirit of the Gospel
Date: April 15, 2011
One reason why Catholic schools have for many years been a source of strength for our local communities, our province, and our country, is that they are animated by a spirit of inclusivity and equity rooted in the Gospel. We believe that every person, young or old, is to be treated with reverence; we are called to see the face of Christ in each person we meet, and to act accordingly.
This is why each person must be welcomed with kindness, respect and compassion and why, for us, bullying is wrong under any circumstances, at any age.
There has been much discussion recently surrounding one dimension of this issue, bullying related to sexual orientation. As an enhancement of the existing resources to support all students, we encourage Catholic school boards in Ontario to provide the opportunity for students who wish to do so to gather to address this dimension of bullying.
Guided by our faith, a committee that includes students, parents, trustees, educators, clergy and other members of our school community, working with the Institute for Catholic Education (ICE), will establish a framework for these groups, including a common name, to assist Catholic school boards with this anti-bullying initiative.
In addition, the committee will collect and share the best resources and practices that we have in our Catholic schools to combat bullying in any form and to be sure they are places of welcome according to the Gospel.
The committee will begin this work before the end of April, 2011. It is our hope that the initial results will be available to our school boards before the beginning of the next school year. In the meantime, we urge all members of our community to ensure that students are educated in a safe and caring environment that does not tolerate bullying or harassment of any kind and for any reason.
Attachment
The complete document with attachments may be found at: http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2011_docs/OCSTA-ACBO-CatholicStudentGroups-April15-2011.pdf
Comments by Catholic Insight’s editor
The archbishop continues to place his trust in Ontario’s Catholic education officials perhaps because he has nowhere else to turn. Meanwhile an increasing number of informed Catholic parents have the feeling that these same officials are about to betray them. The key question is: how will Premier McGuinty’s Equality and Inclusive Strategy” be implemented?
Catholic Insight magazine, Life Site News, Campaign Life Catholics and others have shown that the Institute of Catholic Education (ICE) under Sister Joan Cronin, the Ontario English Catholic Teachers Union (OECTA) under James Ryan and a large number of Ontario Catholic School officials, including trustees, have “bought into” the pro-homosexual culture of the day. They have already downplayed Catholic principles to make room for the politically correct but morally unsustainable demands of the same-sex “marriage” protagonists. The latter are vehement in their denunciation of the Church’s views, as outdated and passé, no longer suitable for modern society. They want a secular society, and no Vatican interference.
Premier Dalton McGuinty has made it abundantly clear that he a) rejects Church teaching and b) is fully committed to the new homosexual culture. Consequently, he has instructed his Ministers to act accordingly, the current Minister being Leona Dombrowski, another Catholic, who appears to be dutifully carrying out his wishes.
The agreement printed above is between the Archbishop and Nancy Kirby. Kirby is now president of the Ontario Council of Catholic Trustees. Yet, a few years ago she used to work in the Department of Education under then lesbian Minister Kathleen Wynne, the very one who devised the current legislation. The language of the memorandum is that of the Education Ministry.
What are we to think of this memorandum? As one commentator put it: “Bishop Collins/Catholic Trustees give green light to start gay clubs by September.”
Notice
The next TCDSB for interested stakeholders meeting is Wednesday, April 27th at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church from 6:50 p.m. to 9:50 p.m. (Editor: this is in Toronto’s homosexual district so parents and stakeholders should attend: demand open discussion and the right of stakeholders to speak, but not for non-Catholic or anti-Catholic pressure groups).
PS: Next week, Catholic Insight will publish a list of articles, editorials, analyses and critiques published on this subject during 2010 and 2011.
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