XPost: tor.general, calgary.general, can.politics 
 XPost: edm.general 
 From: SundancingGuy@netscape.net 
  
 Canadian Bishop Details Government Threats Over Church Teaching on 
 Same-Sex €Marriage€ 
  
 OTTAWA, June 8, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) -  In House of Commons committee 
 hearings on the same-sex €marriage€ Bill C-38 Monday, Calgary Bishop 
 Fred Henry revealed details of threats leveled against him by 
 government officials for putting forward Church teaching. 
  
 Bishop Henry described in detail how he was called by Terry De Marche of 
 Revenue Canada after issuing a pastoral letter which pointed out to his 
 diocese that the media€s description of Prime Minister Paul Martin as a 
 €devout Catholic€ was inappropriate due to Martin€s support for abortion 
 and gay €marriage€ legislation. 
  
 Speaking of the conversation he had in June 2004 with De Marche, the 
 Director of Policy & Communications of Revenue Canada€s Charities 
 Directorate, Bishop Henry said, €he reminded me very forcefully from the 
 beginning that I wasn't to engage in partisan politics, pointing out 
 that my actions were in contravention of the Elections Act and implying 
 that my actions jeopardized my charitable tax status.€   After Bishop 
 Henry pointed out that he did not tell anyone how to vote, Bishop Henry 
 recalls that De Marche €then talked about perception and said: €Some 
 people may perceive€€.  To this Bishop Henry responded, €I can't control 
 the perception of all the people in Canada, I have to assume that they 
 can think and think critically and they can evaluate, and surely to God 
 they can understand that I'm not telling anybody how to vote here€. 
  
 The Bishop recalls that the conversation ended with this exchange: €he 
 said: €Well, are you going to take down the pastoral letter from your 
 website? I said: €No, why should I take it down from my website€? He 
 didn't answer that either. Then he said: €Are you planning on doing 
 anything else€? I said: €I find that question very strange, but no, I'm 
 not contemplating doing anything else€. Then he said: €I'm going to 
 write a report for my superior. You may hear back from us again in the 
 short term€€. 
  
 Bishop Henry noted that other pastors of different faith backgrounds 
 have expressed that they were intimidated by the handling of Bishop 
 Henry and have thus been €gun shy€ on speaking out. 
  
 The Bishop also mentioned having to defend himself against human rights 
 complaints submitted to the Alberta Human Rights Commission and also the 
 complaints against a Knights of Columbus Hall in BC which refused to 
 allow a lesbian couple to rent the premises for a €wedding€ reception. 
  
 Bishop Henry was greeted at the hearings by pro-life, pro-family MP Pat 
 O'Brien who left the Liberal party this week over C-38. 
  
 jhw 
  
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  * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)