The Right Honourable Jean Chrétien
Prime Minister
Room 311-S, Centre Block
House of Commons
Ottawa, ON K1A 0A2

Dear Mr. Prime Minister:

We write to you before the annual G-8 Summit in Birmingham to urge you and your fellow leaders of the richest nations of the world to take further and decisive action to forgive the external unpayable debts of the world’s poorest nations. Such action would be a step toward establishing a just and equitable international economic system.

In his message for the Millennium, the Pope called for “reducing substantially, if not cancelling outright, the international debt which seriously threatens the future of many nations.” We repeat this call to you, who are now in a unique position to give more generous help to some of the world’s most impoverished people and at a minimal cost.

In light of the Jubilee Year 2000, we firmly believe in the moral obligation of creditor countries to contribute to the well-being of millions of poor people around the world. We acknowledge the contributions already made by creditor governments under the Heavily Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) Initiative. Yet, it alone will not solve the problem of poverty. We urge you to develop new mechanisms of providing rapid and effective debt relief. In particular, additional assistance to those heavily indebted poor countries who do not now qualify under HIPC, especially those in post-conflict situations, must be forthcoming. At a minimum, we urge you to ensure that, by the year 2000, all highly indebted poor countries can get necessary debt relief.

We recognize that debtor governments have obligations, too. They have a duty to ensure that the benefits of debt relief are used to help those who are most in need and not squandered through mismanagement or corruption. To offer the poorest debt ridden countries faster and more generous help now will require political leadership as well as extra financial contributions. Such action is a vital step towards establishing a more just international financial system in the next millennium.

Sincerely,

†François Thibodeau, CJM
Bishop of Edmundston
Chairman of the Human Rights Commission
Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops

This document is only available in French.

The Catholic Organization for Life and Family (COLF) has published the 1998 message marking the International Day of the Family, celebrated annuelly on May 15. In order to read the message, electronically, you must have Adode Acrobat Reader installed.

Click here to download Adode Acrobat Reader.

COLF can be contacted by E-mail at:ocvfcolf@cccb.ca

(Ottawa – CCCB) Following the April 26 assassination of Most Reverend Juan José Gerardi Conedera, Auxiliary Bishop of Guatemala, Cardinal Jean-Claude Turcotte, President of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB), has asked Foreign Affairs Minister Lloyd Axworthy to intervene immediately with government authorities in Guatemala so they proceed quickly with a full inquiry.

In a letter to the minister dated yesterday, Cardinal Turcotte said, “We are shocked and pained over this crime. We believe that the Government of Canada, as an international defender and promoter of human rights, should demand Guatemalan authorities to bring light to bear on this assassination and to continue efforts to reestablish a climate that is more respectful of human rights.” Recalling the dedication of his episcopal colleague who had spent his life defending and promoting human rights, despite repeated obstacles including death threats against himself and other members of his diocesan Church, Cardinal Turcotte said Bishop Gerardi had ministered to the poorest and most marginalized of Guatemalans, the native people.

In a letter to the Archbishop of Guatemala, the CCCB President on behalf of the Bishops of Canada also conveyed condolences to the people and Church leaders of Guatemala. To express its solidarity with the Church in Guatemala, the CCCB has sent a delegate to the funeral of Bishop Gerardi. Most Reverend François Lapierre, bishop-elect of Saint Hyacinthe and a member of the Quebec-based Foreign Mission Society, has attended the funeral April 29th in Guatemala City cathedral.

SYNOD OF BISHOPS FOR ASIA
SUMMARY OF INTERVENTION BY MOST REVEREND ADAM EXNER, OMI
ARCHBISHOP OF VANCOUVER, BC
PHENOMENON OF GLOBALIZATION

The phenomenon of globalization, frequently mentioned in the interventions of this Synod, is the topic I wish to address particularly in so far as globalization is brought about by the migration of people from one country to another. The Archdiocese of Vancouver is a good example of a society that has become multicultural. Our parishes often have parishioners from fifty to sixty different countries. A high percentage of these are Asians.

Some Synod Fathers, as I have noted in their interventions, tend to view immigration and multiculturalism with anxiety for fear of the potential effect of multiculturalism on the culture and the cultural values of their country. While this anxiety may be warranted to a degree, I want to suggest that immigration and multiculturalism also have positive values which, in my opinion, outweigh the negative aspects.

The multicultural experience is a very rich one in that it provides for mutual enrichment and contributes greatly to the growth of better understanding, fraternity, harmony and peace among people of different racial and cultural origins. The multicultural experience does have some difficulties and challenges. Communication with each other is not always easy. It is difficult to provide services in different languages as needed. This is where we need help from foreign dioceses.

Finally, in a multicultural situation, inculturation becomes virtually impossible. In spite of the difficulties inherent in our multicultural situation, our Church is very much alive and growing. This growth is due in part to immigration and in part to a significant growth in the number of conversions. A high percentage of our converts are Asians.

Globalization and the migration of people from one country to another are not likely to cease. We have a unique opportunity to capitalize on the rich potential in multicultural existence for evangelization and the building up of the Kingdom.

The Right Honourable Jean Chrétien, P.C., M.P.
Prime Minister of Canada
House of Commons
Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6

Dear Mr. Prime Minister:

Re: Permanent International Criminal Court

In June, mindful of the atrocities of the Second World War and the recent horrors of Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia, members of the United Nations, including Canada, will meet in Rome to negotiate the creation of an international criminal court.

There are many significant matters to settle in establishing such an important body which will be dealing with cases that deeply concern the protection of human life, the promotion of human dignity and respect for human freedom. Some of the issues for negotiation are what crimes will be prosecuted, the power of the court, the role of the United Nations and the responsibilities of states. While this is a complex task for experts, it is also a wonderful opportunity for the whole world to join in condemning crimes against human rights and in building international respect for the rule of law, justice and peace.

Recognizing and affirming the court’s potential for promoting a culture of human rights, we were extremely surprised to be informed recently that one of the crimes proposed by the Preparatory meeting held in New York last December is described as enforced pregnancy. Assuming that the intention is to hold accountable those who in recent conflicts confined and repeatedly raped women until they were pregnant, then we respectfully submit that the wrong term has been chosen. Clearly, the conduct of those men who committed these atrocities against women should be condemned and punished. We believe, however, that the offense would be more correctly described as forcible impregnation. This terminology puts the accent squarely where it belongs – on the criminal behaviour of the perpetrator and not on the results of this behaviour – a traumatized pregnant woman and an innocent child.

It is my understanding that language identifying criminal offenses invariably describes the act alleged to have been committed by the perpetrator, not the consequent state of the victim. Pregnancy is the ongoing state of a woman who is not a perpetrator but a victim. It is the act of a man who sexually assaulted her with the deliberate intent of impregnating her and the acts of those who may have ordered or otherwise encouraged him to do so that constitute the crime or crimes. He or they are the offenders. If the language of the statute is inaccurate, convictions may be difficult to obtain with the result that not only is justice denied but an opportunity is lost to set international precedents that will protect women in the future. The distinction between enforced pregnancy and forcible impregnation is a vital one which may have been overlooked in the legitimate and understandable haste to make this aggravated form of rape subject to clear and effective sanctions. We are very concerned that if the term enforced pregnancy is retained pregnancy itself could be considered a crime or abortions compelled to avoid prosecution, and that perpetrators could escape without accountability. This would be contrary to the deeply held beliefs and values of millions of people in Canada and throughout the world and put the credibility and constitutionality of the court in peril.

What happened to women in the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda and the outrages that are routinely inflicted on women in armed conflict are crimes against humanity that cry out for justice and healing. But we must not aggravate the violence done to these women by apparently criminalizing a state of their own bodies, putting the innocent children that they bear at risk or rushing into wording that is imprecise and hence ineffective.

Mr. Prime Minister, this matter is of serious concern to us. We ask you to instruct the Canadian delegation to support the removal of enforced pregnancy as a proposed crime, or its substitution by another more appropriate and precise term such as forcible impregnation. We are anxious to hear from you.

In closing, we would also like to encourage the recent initiative by the Minister of Foreign Affairs to declare the recruitment of children into military forces or armed opposition groups a war crime under the jurisdiction of the proposed court.

Sincerely,

+Jean-Claude Cardinal Turcotte
Archbishop of Montreal
President
Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops

cc: The Honourable Lloyd Axworthy
Minister of Foreign Affairs

The Honourable Anne McLellan
Minister of Justice and
Attorney General of Canada

The Honourable Hedy Fry
Secretary of State for Multiculturalism and
Status of Women

(Ottawa – CCCB) With only 619 days to go to the year 2000, Canada’s national Catholic organizations have no intention of letting the Jubilee pass by unnoticed. Representatives of 14 national Catholic associations met in a forum here April 17-18 organized by the Commission for Relations with Associations of Clergy, Consecrated Life and Laity, a commission of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Including lay and religious men and women as well as members of secular institutes and clergy, the associations want the Jubilee to mark a “fresh start” in Church life and in biblical tradition foster a change of heart, forgiveness of debts, pardon and reconciliation. Recalling the epistle of Saint James (2.17), that faith without good works is dead, forum participants also expressed their hope the Jubilee be an occasion to stop and reflect, as well as to become actively and resolutely involved for God and one another.

Invited to outline the main orientations their movements are planning for the year 2000, participants spoke along similar lines, even when their organizations were involved in completely different areas of activity. Their Jubilee plans stressed the conversion, justice and reconciliation that have historically always been part of Jubilee celebrations. One association dedicated to international solidarity, the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace, said it is giving special attention to forgiving the debts of the world’s poorest countries. Joining others at the forum also echoing the preferential option for the poor, Holy Cross Sister Mary Jean Goulet from Ottawa, representing the Canadian Religious Conference, said “it is not a global economy that is summoning us but rather global solidarity.”

Emphasis on joy

Bishop Jean-Guy Hamelin of Rouyn-Noranda, a member of the episcopal commission, stressed the Jubilee notion of joy. The Church is celebrating 2000 years of the living presence of Jesus Christ, he said, commenting on Tertio Millennio Adveniente, Pope John Paul II’s 1994 apostolic exhortation on the Great Jubilee.

But while Christian hearts should be overflowing with joy, it cannot all stop with the year 2000, Stephanie Parniak remarked, a member of the Canadian Catholic Students Association. “The Great Jubilee certainly must be a time to rejoice,” she said, “but let’s not forget there will also be a 2001, 2002, 2003 and so forth.” The University of Western Ontario student explained she hoped the Jubilee would especially be a time of renewal for the Church that would include outreach, particularly to young people. Representatives of other national associations shared similar hopes for new and renewed efforts in outreach, including dialogue and reconciliation with native peoples, other Christians, and Catholics estranged from the Church.

Jubilee flavour

Repeating a concern expressed at a recent CCCB gathering on Jubilee preparations involving diocesan representatives that had met in Toronto in February, forum participants had hesitations about large national gatherings and Canadian mega-projects for the year 2000, while at the same time indicating something should be done in every locale to celebrate the event. Pointing out that organizations already have activities and projects under way apart from the Jubilee, the Commission chairman, Toronto’s Auxiliary Bishop Terrence Prendergast, SJ, said, “Life goes on in our dioceses. The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops is not going to embark on huge Jubilee projects. What is important is giving many ongoing activities a Jubilee spirit.” Forum participants noted as well some apocalyptic “gloom and doom” fears to which the Church needs to respond.

Note: The 14 national Catholic associations represented were:

Ascending Life
Canadian Association of Knights of Columbus
Canadian Catholic Campus Ministry (including Canadian Catholic Students Association)
Canadian Catholic Conference of Secular Institutes and Associations of Consecrated Secular Life
Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace
Canadian Catholic School Trustees’ Association
Canadian Francophone Council for Promoting Vocations
Canadian Religious Conference
Catholic Health Association of Canada
Catholic Women’s League of Canada
Faith and Light International
Federation of l’Arche
National Federation of Councils of Priests
Society of St. Vincent de Paul of Canada

(Ottawa – CCCB) Archbishop Adam Exner, O.M.I., of Vancouver, has been named a delegate to the upcoming Synod of Bishops for Asia by His Holiness Pope John Paul II. The Special Assembly will take place in Rome from April 19 until May 14, 1998. The theme chosen for the Synod is Jesus Christ the Saviour and His Mission of Love and Service in Asia: “That They May Have Life and Have It Abundantly” (John 10:10).

Archbishop Exner’s appointment was among 23 bishops and priests from around the world who will be full members of the Synod, 16 priests and a religious woman who will assist the bishops as experts, and 39 others who are observers. The Vancouver Archbishop called the appointment “significant for the Church in Canada and for the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops.” Archbishop Exner went on to say that the appointment also has “a special significance for the Archdiocese of Vancouver, which has such a high percentage of people from Asia.” “In the city of Vancouver, English has become a minority language,” he added. “Fifty-seven percent of the population does not speak English at home, thirty percent speak Chinese and the rest speak 138 different languages.” The majority of the other languages are oriental. This multiple Asian cultural mixture is reflected in our parishes which often have parishioners from fifty to sixty different countries.” “The opportunity to learn more about the Church in Asia, and about its concerns and pastoral approaches, will be most helpful,” he remarked.

Also named as delegates to the Synod were Bishops John S. Cummins of Oakland, Calf., and Francis X. Di Lorenzo of Honolulu. One of the auditors or observers who was appointed today was Sister Mary Nirmala Joshi, M.C., Superior General of the Missionaries of Charity in India, the successor to Mother Teresa.

The Instrumentum Laboris, the Special Assembly’s working document, says that Asian Catholics must help their neighbours see Christianity not as a western import but as the key to the fullness of life. While three-quarters of the world’s population reside in Asia, only three percent are Catholic. The working document sets down as one of the key questions “How can the Church in Asia explain that Christ is the one and only saviour and unique mediator of salvation, distinct from the founders of Asia’s other great religions?”

The Synod for Asia is one of a continuing series of special assemblies for the different continents of the world called by Pope John Paul II in light of the celebration of the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000. It will bring together bishops from the Middle East; the Asian republics of the former Soviet Union; Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka; the Philippines; as well as the Far East and Southeast Asian nations.

Last fall, the Synod for America was held in Rome in which the Canadian delegation of 14 bishops and one priest played an important role. They were supported by a team of Canadian experts and observers. Previous to that, a synod was held for Africa. Next year, special synods will be held for Europe and Oceania.

Message by His Holiness Pope John Paul II on the Occasion of World Communications Day — May 24, 1998.

(Ottawa – CCCB)  His Holiness Pope John Paul II today named Rev. François Lapierre, P.M.E., Superior General of the Montreal-based Société des missions étrangères (Foreign Mission Society) as Bishop of Saint Hyacinthe. He succeeds Most Rev. Louis-de-Gonzague Langevin, M.Af., whose resignation was also accepted by the Pope.

Bishop Langevin, 76, served the diocese since 1979. He has been an active member of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB), serving on many episcopal commissions including Missions, Canon Law / Inter-rite and Social Communications.

Bishop-elect Lapierre is no stranger to the diocese, having grown up and studied there. He was born in West Shefford (known today as Bromont) in 1941 and received a bachelor’s degree from the Séminaire de Saint Hyacinthe. He studied theology at the Foreign Missions Seminary in Pont-Viau, Quebec, and was ordained to the priesthood for the Foreign Mission Society in 1965. The new Bishop has served in Peru, Guatemala and Honduras as a missionary, and also played an important role in Canada in the missionary movement as well as being on the Executive Committee of the Canadian Council for International Cooperation.

Besides his commitment to missionary activity, Bishop-elect Lapierre has been very active in the Christian student movement. In Peru, he worked with the National Union of Catholic Students; in Quebec he was influential in the founding of Yanick which later became the Mouvement des étudiants chrétiens du québec (MECQ); and in Europe he acted as chaplain for the International Catholic Student Movement (Paris), and the International Catholic Intellectual Movement (Geneva). Bishop-elect Lapierre, who has served as Superior General of his order since 1991, was one of the four Canadian observers at the Special Assembly of Bishops for America which met in Rome in November and December last year.

The Diocese of Saint Hyacinthe has a Catholic population of 330,000 in 113 parishes and missions served by 179 diocesan priests, 90 priests from religious communities and 30 permanent deacons.