Gay marriage in CanadaThe contents of Bishop Henry's second letterAbout the pastoral letters:In 2005-JAN, Bishop Frederick B. Henry (1943 -) wrote a pastoral letter to
fellow Roman Catholics in the Diocese of Calgary, Alberta concerning gay marriage (a.k.a. same-sex
marriage [SSM]). 1 During 2005-MAY, he issued a second pastoral letter on
the same topic. The latter is described below. Clarification of the phrase "State must use its coercive power." Bishop Henry submitted a letter to the Calgary Sun and LifeSiteNews.com on 2005-MAY-01,
about three and a half months
after his January pastoral letter. He repeated his "coercive power"
statement. He enlarged the list of threats to the family to include "divorce,
fornication and rape, etc." He further wrote:
"The coercive power of
the state extends to traffic laws, tax policy, education curriculum,
communication regulations, and a whole host of other areas including marriage.
For example, in the case of marriage, federal legislation prohibits people from
marrying if they are related linearly or as brother and sister, whether by whole
blood, half blood or by adoption. Specifically: a woman may not marry her
grandfather, father, grandson, son or brother. A man may not marry his
grandmother, mother, granddaughter, daughter of sister. The time has come for
the government of Canada to use its coercive powers to legislate that a couple
being married must be one man and one woman. This is not a fascist or
Hitler-like position, nor even an anti-homosexual stance, but it reflects
Christian teaching on the primordial status of marriage and family life." 2,3
He seems to make two points here:
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His term "coercive powers" refers to
simple legislation by the federal government. Some people feel that this is a strange use
of the term. The Ontario Government uses its legislative authority to
specify a minimum age to obtain a driver's license, for example. But this is not
normally referred
to by the public as "coercive powers" or "coercive force."
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He seems to imply that the federal marriage act must match Roman Catholic teaching, even though that would violate the beliefs of the United Church of
Canada, The Unitarian Universalist Association, other liberal Christian groups, some other religions, some
secularist organizations, etc who all support SSM as a matter of fundamental
justice. |
Bishop Henry's recommendation concerning SSM in Alberta:Bishop Henry concludes his letter with a discussion of same-sex marriage in the
province of Alberta. He wrote:
"We don't have to wait for the federal
government to act. We should renew the notwithstanding provision of the Alberta Defence of Marriage Act and add an
amendment to the existing Marriage Act stating that in order for a marriage to
be solemnized in Alberta and a marriage licence issued, the couple needs to be a
man and a woman. The issuing of marriage licences is a provincial right and this
is where our power resides."
The "notwithstanding" clause of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms -- Canada's constitution -- allows a government to pass legislation that
violates certain parts of the Charter. Laws that are clearly unconstitutional
can be implemented for a five year period at a time. But a provincial government can
only do this within the limits of its jurisdiction. Bishop Henry may not have
been aware that the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that the federal government has sole responsibility to determine who is eligible
to marry. Thus, only the federal government could invoke the notwithstanding
clause to ban same-sex marriages. Provincial responsibility extends only to the
mechanics of issuing licenses to couples, licensing persons who are allowed to
perform marriages, and recording marriages. Only the federal government is
capable of using the notwithstanding clause to restrict marriage to opposite-sex
couples. Premier Klein of Alberta did not take Bishop Henry's advice. His government
transmitted a fax to all of the marriage license issuing offices within hours of
SSM being legalized in Canada. It instructed the office personnel to start
issuing licenses to same-sex couples. 4
References used:
-
F.B. Henry, "On Same-Sex Marriage," 2005-JAN, at: http://www.rcdiocese-calgary.ab.ca/
- Fred Henry, "We should lead
fight for marriage," Calgary Sun, 2005-MAY-01, at: http://www.defendmarriage.ca/
-
"Pastoral Letter of Calgary Bishop Fred Henry Released May 1. Submitted
to LifeSiteNews.com by Bishop Henry," LifeSiteNews, 2005-MAY-02, at: http://www.lifesite.net/
-
"Edmonton men first gay couple in Alberta to get marriage
license," CBC News, 2005-JUL-21, at: http://www.cbc.ca/
Site navigation:
"SSM" means "same-sex marriage"
Copyright © 2005 by Ontario Consultants on Religious
Tolerance
Originally posted: 2005-JUL-15
Latest update: 2005-NOV-03
Author: B.A. Robinson 
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