Ontario bishops declined to sign anti-poverty ad

Catholic New Times, Dec 14, 2003 by Barry McGrory

"Prayer alone will not end child poverty: Ontario faith leaders call on our elected representatives to do their part," says a full page ad placed recently in a Toronto newspaper by the Campaign Against Child Poverty, a national, nonpartisan citizens coalition.

Sixty religious leaders signed the petition, asking among other things, for affordable housing for the 40,000 Toronto children on the waiting list, an end to Ontario's clawback of federal funds under the National Child Benefit for 246,000 children, an increase in the shelter allowance portion of social assistance frozen ten years ago and an increase in the minimum wage, frozen now for eight years.

Signers, thank God, included eleven major superiors of female and male Catholic religious and six prominent Catholic priests, religious and lay people of the whole church. But while Archbishop Finlay and Bishop Balmer of the Anglican Diocese of Toronto signed, only Bishop John Pazak, Chair of their Social Affairs Committee, and Eparch for Slovaks in Canada, signed for the Ontario Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Yet when the Ontario Conference of Catholic Bishops put out a letter on same-sex marriages, all three archbishops and all seventeen bishops in the province signed it.

When the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops put out their letter on same-sex, all seventeen archbishops and bishops of their Permanent Council signed. Canada's two cardinals and the CCCB president presented it on national TV.

Both letters were carefully reasoned defences of the Catholic position with the CCCB letter recognizing the desire of same-sex couples for formal recognition. The difference between ecclesial support for the letters about same sex and for the ad criticizing poverty is startling.

Not to speak out when others do can be an implied condoning of evil. The letters emphasized the importance of the family for the child. But what good is it for a child to have heterosexual parents without a home to live in? Or food to eat?

Has there been a coordinated recall by our bishops of the Catholic position on the common good? Did not Vatican II and Cardinal Bernardin's "seamless garment" approach speak of integral redemption? Why then, restrict ourselves to sexual ethics?

Barry McGrory

Toronto