AMERICA/CANADA - “The bill under discussion is offensive to the moral and religious sensibility of a great number of citizens, both Catholic and non-Catholic”: open letter by Cardinal Marc Quellet in answer to a proposed Bill to include same sex partnerships within the same legal framework as the conjugal relation between a man and a woman.

Ottawa (Fides Service) - “As a Canadian citizen and as the Primate of Canada, I feel it is my duty to express my concern and disagreement and that of a great number of Canadians who have asked me to step forward to give public voice to their opinion about the meaning and the consequences of this proposed change.”, Cardinal Marc Quellet, Archbishop of Quebec and Primate of Canada, wrote in an open letter issued in January 2005, “Marriage and Society For a Free and Enlightened Vote in Parliament” in which he calls for serious debate on the proposal to legalise unions of persons of the same sex. “the bill announced by the Government threatens to unleash nothing less than a cultural upheaval whose negative consequences are still impossible to predict.” the Cardinal affirmed in his letter.
On 9 December 2004 the Supreme Court of Canada declared “the new formulation to be compatible with the Canadian Constitution”. “Contrary to an interpretation that has become widespread in the media, the Supreme Court’s judgement does not have force of law and has involved no change in the current legal framework” the Cardinal says, asking if the present context of Canadian society calls for a change in the definition of marriage and recognition of legal rights of marriage among homosexuals. “We find ourselves at a critical threshold”, he said stressing the need for serious reflection before taking such a step seeing that these decisions affect the fundamental institutions of society: marriage and the family. Legalising same sex marriage, “would alter the institution of marriage by ignoring two of
its essential finalities: the procreation and education of children, within the context of the love of
a man and a woman, guarantee the future of society”. “The union of persons of the same sex
cannot make this essential contribution to society, because it lacks this properly conjugal
complementarity that defines the institution of marriage”, the Cardinal said calling for the debate to take into account the future of children as a priority.
The Canadian Cardinal says “the bill under discussion is offensive to the moral and religious sensibility of a great number of citizens, both Catholic and non-Catholic” and the “the educational impact such a legislation would have: it would sow confusion in people’s minds, especially youth, and trouble their conscience” must also be taken into consideration.
On various occasions the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Canada has spoken out against this proposed change in the law. In a letter dated February 1, 2005, addressed to political leaders, as spiritual leaders of 13 million Canadian Catholics and with other millions of Canadians of other religions, the Bishops expressed their opposition to the change in the law to re-define marriage which would no longer be recognised as the only, essential and fundamental relation between a man and woman calling the Canadian government and political parties to implement legislation which recognises, protects and reaffirms the definition of marriage as the union of a man and a woman. (RG) (Agenzia Fides 07/02/2005 - righe 31 parole 342)