The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) appreciates the considerate and speedy response dated 17 January 2001 from Her Excellency Adrienne Clarkson, Governor General of Canada, to a letter of 16 January 2001 from CCCB President Bishop Gerald Wiesner, OMI, concerning a message sent from her office on the occasion of a Toronto ceremony held this past Sunday purportedly to recognize two single-sex relationships as legal marriages.

The CCCB accepts the personal explanation of the Governor General that the message sent from her office “did not imply political intent”. Nevertheless, the CCCB remains convinced that the political use that was made of the message both at the ceremony and in subsequent media reports and headlines could not go unanswered.

The Roman and Eastern Catholic Bishops of Canada, together with millions of other Canadians, will continue to be concerned about efforts to change the definition and reality of marriage as the sacred union of a man and a woman.