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

Dear Mr. Prime Minister:

In the name of all my colleagues in the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, and my own name, I wish to congratulate you for the actions that your government has undertaken over the past months toward the elimination of anti-personnel mines.

It is a great joy that this initiative will soon be fully realized, after having been launched and overseen by the Honourable Lloyd Axworthy, Minister of Foreign Affairs. We also admire the leadership you have provided, particularly the repeated efforts to convince and encourage other countries to join the treaty which is to be signed in Ottawa the beginning of December.

“Happy the peacemakers: they will be called children of God” (Matthew 5.9). The elimination of anti-personnel mines is a project which reverberates with these words, affirming the prophecy of Isaiah: “They will beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks” (Isaiah 2.4).

Please be assured, Mr. Prime Minister, of our prayers in Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, for the success of this project.

Sincerely,

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