Quebec
Priest Once Again Rebukes Canada 's Catholic Primate
By Patrick B. Craine
QUEBEC , June 1, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com)
- Notoriously dissident Catholic priest Fr. Raymond Gravel has again
publicly criticized Cardinal Marc Ouellet, Archbishop of Quebec City and
Primate of Canada, following the Cardinal's strong defense of unborn
life in recent weeks.
In a Monday
op-ed for Le Trait D'Union, Fr. Gravel notes that a recent
survey showed 94% of Quebeckers disagreeing with Cardinal Ouellet's call
for the recriminalization of abortion. "Since it is not the
first time that Monsignor Ouellet has been almost unanimously
opposed," the priest writes, "may we remind him that his role
as bishop is one of a pastor that gathers and unifies rather than one
that judges, condemns, divides and excludes?"
Fr. Gravel goes on to
declare that "it is high time that we stop entrenching ourselves
into one of two extreme options that have been confronting each other
over the last forty years: pro-lifers and pro-choicers."
"The Church's deep
conviction about life is well known, but it is not shared by the whole
of Quebec society," the priest observes. "Which is why,
as a Church, we ought not to impose our conception of life under penalty
of excommunication or of exclusion."
This is at least the third
time Fr. Gravel has publicly denounced Cardinal Ouellet, the highest
Catholic prelate in Canada .
In a September 2006 letter
to the editor for the Quebec newsweekly Actualité, Fr. Gravel wrote
that "Cardinal Ouellet is not a true Catholic, that he is not
representative of Quebec Catholics, and that, indeed, he is against the
Gospel."
He condemned the prelate
again two weeks ago after Cardinal Ouellet sparked a frenzy in Quebec by
simply reiterating the Church's teaching of the immorality of abortion
in all cases, including rape. The Cardinal told a reporter, after
speaking at a pro-life conference in Quebec City : "The child is
not responsible for how he was conceived, it is the aggressor who is
responsible. We can see him (the child) as another victim."
Fr. Gravel reacted by saying
it is "deplorable that a man who is a cardinal, archbishop of
Quebec , would hold views like these."
"It's as if women were
nothing and what is important is to save their fetus, however it was
conceived," he told Radio-Canada. "We are dealing with
rape here."
These attacks on Cardinal
Ouellet by Fr. Gravel are only the latest in a series of public
statements and actions he has made in direct disobedience to the Church
and her teachings on life and family.
In 2003, Fr. Gravel wrote an
article criticizing the Vatican 's stance on homosexuality.
In 2004, he told
Radio-Canada that he would not stop receiving Communion despite
his support for abortion.
In 2006, he led
a group of 19 Quebecois priests in signing a letter condemning
the Church's teachings on homosexuality.
Again in 2006, he defied
Vatican directives by taking up a position as Member of
Parliament for Repentigny , Quebec .
As MP in 2007, he opposed the
Unborn Victims of Crime Act, stating that he feared it would "open
the door to a re-criminalization of women who have abortions, and that's
not to be desired."
Finally, in 2008, he backed
the decision to award infamous abortionist Henry Morgentaler
the Order of Canada, and criticized the Canadian bishops for their
opposition.
There are growing
concerns among Canadian Catholics regarding the fact that Gravel,
who has so often publicly opposed essential Catholic
teachings, somehow still manages to retain his priestly faculties.
To
sign a petition in support of Cardinal Ouellet, click
here.
Find full LifeSiteNews.com coverage
of Fr. Raymond Gravel click
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