NEWS DIGEST: Religion in Canada

c. 2003 Religion News Service Anglican Priests Charged for Defying Bishop Over Gay Unions VANCOUVER, British Columbia _ Seven Anglican priests who have been at odds with their church’s stand on same-sex marriages have been charged with a variety of ecclesiastical offenses in an issue that continues to cause turmoil in the worldwide Anglican Communion. […]

c. 2003 Religion News Service

Anglican Priests Charged for Defying Bishop Over Gay Unions

VANCOUVER, British Columbia _ Seven Anglican priests who have been at odds with their church’s stand on same-sex marriages have been charged with a variety of ecclesiastical offenses in an issue that continues to cause turmoil in the worldwide Anglican Communion.


The priests have all led congregations opposed to the blessing of same-sex marriages, and tried to break away from British Columbia’s New Westminster diocese to join the more conservative Diocese of the Yukon _ a move refused as illegal under church law.

No names were released when the Diocese of New Westminster announced earlier this month that clergy were charged for alleged disobedient and disrespectful conduct.

But a coalition of parishes formally opposed to same-sex blessings, who refer to themselves as the Anglican Communion in New Westminster, released the names of the charged clergy Monday (Oct. 27).

All seven are charged with the same offenses: disobedience to the bishop, contemptuous or disrespectful conduct toward the bishop, conduct causing scandal and “otherwise offenses against the lawful authority of the bishop.”

Bishop Michael Ingham of New Westminster, who has led support for the blessing of same-sex unions in his diocese, has appointed a commission of inquiry to investigate the charges.

Convictions on any charge range from mild rebukes to excommunication, although a church source said this week that the latter is “almost never used. It’s almost medieval.”

The diocese has been at the center of an international controversy over same-sex blessings since June 2002 when about 62 percent of parish representatives voted in favor of the ceremony for committed gay couples.

The number of parishes opposed has increased to 11, but sources within the opposition says there are between five and 20 additional parishes that are also opposed but have remained loyal to Ingham.


A spokesman for Ingham said the issue is not same-sex unions but loyalty.

“When priests are made priests, one of the things they do is pledge loyalty to the bishop. The charges, simply put, are that they haven’t been loyal,” the spokesman said.

The commission will be headed by the senior diocesan archdeacon, along with the academic dean of the Vancouver School of Theology and a retired British Columbia Supreme Court judge. It must report within three months.

Groups Vow to Continue Same-Sex Fight

OTTAWA _ The Supreme Court of Canada has rejected a bid by religious and pro-family groups to appeal the Ontario court ruling that legalized same-sex marriages in the province.

A five-judge panel turned down the application by the Interfaith Coalition for Marriage and the Family and the Association for Marriage and the Family appealing last summer’s Ontario Court of Appeal ruling that found the traditional definition of marriage unconstitutional.

“We have lost an important opportunity to express the concerns of millions of Canadians,” said Bruce Clemenger, president of the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, lead partner in the interfaith coalition.

The two groups became involved in the legal battle after the federal government announced it would not appeal the Ontario ruling. Instead, it announced it would draft federal legislation legalizing same-sex marriage across Canada.


However, the groups pledge their fight is not over. The EFC is party to a challenge of last year’s Quebec Superior Court ruling that also overturned the traditional definition of marriage. The case is due to be heard in the Quebec Court of Appeal Jan. 24.

House of Commons Votes to Ban Human Cloning

OTTAWA _ It took a decade, but members of Parliament on Tuesday (Oct. 28) finally passed a law that bans human cloning.

However, religious and pro-life groups are unlikely to hail the event because the legislation would still permit stem cell research on human embryos.

The bill, which passed the House of Commons by a vote of 149-109 and must still be approved by the Senate, would ban human cloning, for-profit surrogacy, human-animal hybrids and payment for ova, sperm and embryos.

Some critics said the bill does not go far enough because it would allow controversial embryonic stem cell research, in which human embryos are destroyed.

The most contentious portion of the proposed legislation calls for a government-appointed agency to approve using embryos left over from fertility clinics for stem cell research.


There was no immediate comment from religious groups. Earlier, the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Catholic Health Association of Canada, in separate letters to Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham, called on Canada to work toward a comprehensive global ban on both reproductive cloning and cloning for research purposes.

Meanwhile, a new poll commissioned by LifeCanada/VieCanada, a pro-life group, has found that 70 percent of the 1,500 respondents favor alternatives to stem cell research that involve human embryos.

Religious Texts Face Ban in Calgary Hospitals

CALGARY, Alberta _ Bibles in hospital bedside drawers may become contraband under a proposal from the Calgary Health Region, reports the Calgary Herald.

If the policy is approved, the Gideons International Bible, a bedside staple in hotels, prisons and hospitals, will be removed from all hospital rooms in the city and all distribution and display of any printed religious materials in hospitals will be banned.

The policy, which is still under review and likely won’t be decided for at least two months, has drawn both acceptance and criticism from religious leaders in Calgary.

An official with the CHR says the policy is the best way to avoid any religious discrimination or even the appearance that the organization favors one religious group over another.


“There’s no interest in restricting access. It’s just that we want it to be non-discriminatory,” said Toni MacDonald, the CHR’s director of spiritual care. “There’s not enough room in the drawers for all of the materials.”

“The secularists are taking over,” countered Anglican minister Robert Greene, assistant priest at St. John the Evangelist in Inglewood. “This is just one more step in the secularization of society _ to get rid of anything of spiritual content.”

The move would ban any religious material and texts, including the Bible, Quran and the Book of Mormon.

Pastoral services at all hospitals will continue to offer 24-hour, on-call spiritual advisers of all faiths.

Meanwhile, in Kelowna, British Columbia, Central Okanagan school trustees, reacting to a complaint from a parent, have barred the Gideons from handing out New Testaments to children in Grade 5.

Muslim Boom Drives Halal Demand

MONTREAL _ Demand for halal meat in Quebec is at an all-time high, reports the Montreal Gazette.


The heightened demand for halal lamb especially has been a boon for Canada’s sheep farms, which now send 41 percent more sheep to slaughter _ 683,000 last year _ than they did just five years ago.

In Quebec, the growth has been even more substantial. Since 1998, the yearly number of sheep on the market has doubled to 261,000.

“There’s been a big increase _ an explosion, really _ in the last few years,” said Jean-Francois Samray, director-general of the Federation des producteurs d’agneaux et de moutons du Quebec, which regulates sheep and wool in the province.

Quebec’s Muslim population has grown 142 percent in the past decade, faster than any other religious group by far (Sikhs come in second at 82 percent).

Consumption of halal lamb is expected to spike with feasts on Eid al Fitr, the celebration of the end of Ramadan. This year it’s on Nov. 26.

Police Probe Destruction of Sukkah

TORONTO _ Jewish students at Toronto’s York University _ a campus plagued in the past year by heightened Mideast-related tensions _ were shocked this month following the destruction of their on-campus sukkah, a temporary booth erected for the Jewish holiday of Sukkot.


The incident was being treated as criminal mischief by police, but the head of the police force’s hate crimes unit said such occurrences are “investigated just as thoroughly (as obvious hate crimes), whether we conclude they’re hate crimes or not.”

A spokesman for Canadian Jewish Congress said there was no doubt in his mind this was a hate crime.

“It would have taken three or four people probably 30 minutes to an hour to destroy it,” said the CJC’s Bernie Farber.

The 12-foot-square sukkah, with tarp walls supported by copper piping, was built with extra care this year to prevent damage from wind, as had happened in the past, he noted.

The sukkah was erected Oct. 9. The following morning, a student discovered minor vandalism, which was repaired. But two days later, the sukkah had been destroyed.

“It was uprooted from the ground,” said Jordie Saperia, president of York’s Hillel chapter. “It was impossible for the wind to have blown it down. You would have had to physically take it apart.”


The university released a statement expressing “deep concern” about the incident. As of this week, police had no suspects.

Canada Proclaims Day to Mark Holocaust

OTTAWA _ Canada’s House of Commons unanimously passed a bill Oct. 21 to establish an annual Holocaust memorial day.

The measure, which still requires Senate approval, would designate the annual Day of the Holocaust (Yom Ha’Shoah) on the Jewish calendar as a national memorial day commemorating the killing of 6 million Jews by the Nazis during World War II.

The legislatures of all 10 provinces have passed their own bills memorializing the Holocaust on Yom Ha’Shoah.

“The passage of the bill is one more important step in the process of making the generations to come aware of the horror of the Holocaust and of commemorating the innocent victims of human madness,” said a statement issued by five members of Parliament _ one from each sitting party _ who sponsored the federal bill.

The bill’s passage came as Canadian Jewish leaders were upset that Prime Minister Jean Chretien did not forcefully denounce the recent remarks of Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who said Jews “rule the world by proxy.”


KRE END CSILLAG

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