Concerned Catholic Parents Of Ottawa

Removal of Cathecism Demanded

2012-03-18T19:23:00.002-07:00

This is where we are now. The teaching of the Catholic Church as defined by the Cathechism of the Catholic Church is being targeted for removal from a Catholic School Board's equity pamphlet. The Cathechism quote in question is the following:

The number of men and women who have deep-seated homosexual tendencies is not negligible. This inclination, which is objectively disordered, constitutes for most of them a trial. They must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided. These persons are called to fulfill God's will in their lives and, if they are Christians, to unite to the sacrifice of the Lord's Cross the difficulties they may encounter from their condition.

This is not a one-off event and we should expect more of the same from all those working either externally or within to expunge faithful Catholic teaching from our schools.

Rather than defend and explain what the Church teaches to those that claim offense, the sad reaction is to placate the activists by saying that they will be giving the wording a "relook" to see if they can explain the Church's teaching better. We can be assured that any attempts to reword Catholic teaching on this subject by will be a watered down version of the truth.

We have nothing to apologize for and should to the contrary be sharing the truth of the Church's teaching on this subject at every opportunity. We are obligated to share our faith, all of it, with those that do not know it. It's time to be playing offence, not defence. This is what our society needs most of all and in particular our children.

Respecting Difference

2012-01-31T18:35:00.000-08:00

The long awaited bishops document on the structure of anti-bullying clubs for same-sex attracted youths was finally released last Wednesday by the Ontario Catholic School Trustees' Association. The document was supposed to be ready last fall but was delayed till the start of this year. Given the relative inaction of the bishops up to this point, many Catholic parents were fearing the worst. To say the document is better than expected would be an understatement. Here are some notable excerpts:

“Being “tolerant” of another person does not mean accepting that what he or she says is correct or immune from moral evaluation and criticism”

“This Resource is based upon the need to recognize that it is possible to respect, affirm and support the dignity of another person while at the same time disagreeing with their viewpoint on sexual morality.”

“The holistic view of the human person and the understanding of what constitutes the “common good” may be difficult to explain to others outside a Catholic context, but part of the respect owed to Catholics is that those outside try to understand it or at least stand in a position of respectful disagreement with it.”

“The primary teaching document of the Catholic Church is the Catechism of the Catholic Church.”

The document also outlines that the “Respecting Difference” clubs must be open to all students, must be respectful of and consistent with Catholic teaching, have mentors who must know and be committed to Catholic teachings and only use outside speakers who respect Catholic teaching. The clubs will also not be single-issue (i.e. exclusively for youth that are bullied because of same-sex attraction) but will rather cover any and all differences between kids that lead to bullying.

This document is faithful from start to end. And because of this you can be sure that the gay activists are fuming. What they thought was going to be an easy entry into our schools has now been firmly closed. As they have the current McGuinty government securely in their hip pocket, expect the push back to be fierce. Education Minister Laurel Broten has already come out since the release of the document insisting that Catholic schools must permit single-issue clubs such as gay-straight alliances. The governments quick response makes it clear that this was never about bullying in the first place, but rather just a pretense for the forced normalization of the homosexual lifestyle in our schools.

This fight is far from over, but based on the language and tone of the document, it appears the bishops and our trustees are prepared to dig in and hold their ground.

Please thank both Bishop Bergie, who headed the committee that produced the document, and Nancy Kirby, the head of the Trustees association. Their contact information is below:

chancery@romancatholic.niagara.on.ca
ocsta@ocsta.on.ca

Free the Children, the OCSB and contraception

2011-12-19T18:47:00.000-08:00

As many of you already know, the Ottawa Catholic School Board (OCSB) recently entered into a partnership with the charity Free the Children. Family planning advocacy is a part of the work they do in the communities they're involved in.

I've recently entered into a dialogue with the Ottawa Catholic School Board in an attempt to learn more about which family planning methods Free the Children promotes. Is it Natural Family Planning, abstinence, condoms, IUD's, oral contraceptives or some combination of the above? The Catholic Church teaches that some of these methods are morally acceptable while others are not. This is why the details should matter for a Catholic School Board.

Let's just say that transparency and straightforward responses doesn't seem to be the OCSB's strong suit. For those interested in hearing about where things are with the board, I have posted my most recent letter to the Director of Education below.

Dear Mr. Hanlon,

I am writing to express my disappointment with your responses to my concerns. Since my first contact with you on October 20^th I have yet to receive an explanation that addresses the questions raised about Free the Children's family planning advocacy.

As mentioned before, the following statements can be found in their community reports,

"The women's groups also learned the importance of family planning and how to best prevent sexually transmitted infections." (Free the Children's Enelerai Community Report)

"Mamas in the community also bring their families to the clinic to receive immunizations and for weekly family planning sessions." (Free the Children's Pimbiniet Community Report)

"They also learned about family planning and how to prevent HIV/ AIDS." (Free the Children's Motony Community Report)

"the provision of health workshops and family planning" (Free the Children's India Fact Sheet)

As a Catholic parent and ratepayer I wanted to know what family planning methods were being promoted by Free the Children. In your responses to me you acknowledged that you did not know. Rather than leveraging the partnership our board has with this charity and pushing for answers, you instead provided me with a contact at Free the Children if I wanted to learn more. I definitely did want to learn more, but was surprised to learn that you also didn't want more information given your duty to preserve the school board's Catholic identity.

The contact you referred me, Scott Baker (Executive Director), also said he didn't know and was too busy to find out. I then asked him if Free the Children had any policies in place that prohibited the promotion of contraception as a legitimate method of family planning. As of the date of this letter, he has not replied to this question.

In your letter to me on November 22^nd, you asserted that Free the Children does not promote contraception. Given that both yourself and Mr. Baker have both admitted to not knowing which methods are being promoted in the communities mentioned in the excerpts above, it is difficult to understand how you could have come to this conclusion.

The concerns being raised about Free the Children and contraception are new. The excerpts from the Free the Children community reports I have provided were not made available to other school boards in the past and were definitely not available when the decision was made to feature this charity in the Fully Alive program. As a result, it is not acceptable for you to abdicate your responsibility in this matter by simply saying that Free the Children must be 'ok' because other school boards also partner with them and they are featured in the Fully Alive program.

I am asking you to require Free the Children to provide detailed information with regards to the family planning methods they promote as a condition for the continuation of the existing partnership with our school board. Transparency should be a cornerstone of all partnerships the board engages in, whether charitable or not, and in particular when the questions being raised relate directly to Catholic morality.

To decide to do otherwise would seriously undermine any claims the OCSB makes about the importance it places on preserving the Catholic identity of our schools.

Sincerely,

AP

I encourage all readers to contact your trustee or the Director of Education and ask them to do their job and find out what kind of family planning work Free the Children engages in.

In the end, what's the point of having a Catholic School Board if the ones in charge of ensuring its Catholicity don't really care about what the Catholic Church teaches.

Contact info:

Julian Hanlon
Director of Education and Secretary Treasurer, Ottawa Catholic School Board
Phone: 613-224-4455 ext 2272
Fax: 613-228-4158
Email: Director@ottawacatholicschools.ca

Visit this page to get contact info for your trustee:
http://www.occdsb.on.ca/content.php?doc=4744

Archbishop Terrence Prendergast
1247 Kilborn Place
Ottawa, Ontario K1H 6K9
Phone: 613-738-5025
Fax: 613-738-0130
E-mail: archbishop@archottawa.ca

Free our Children from "Free the Children"

2011-10-12T09:20:00.000-07:00

The Ottawa Catholic School Board has recently entered into a partnership with a charity called “Free the Children”. A recent article outlining some of the problems with this partnership can be found here.

The founders of “Free the Children” are Marc and Craig Kielburger, each currently enjoy the title of ”Ambassadors for Free the Children (Volunteer)”.

The information memorandum regarding the partnership was presented to the Board of Trustees on September 27^th.. This memorandum included a slide (p. 57) titled “Catholicity” where Marc Kielburger states

“…both my brother, Craig, and I are proud members of the Catholic faith”

and a little later says,

“We choose to live our faith through our service work as volunteers with Free the Children”

Based on these slides, it appears that these young men will be presented as Catholic role models for our children as the charity is rolled out in our schools.

The problem with this is that Marc and Craig are both pro-Planned Parenthood. This can be attested to by a Toronto Star article which they authored where they protested funding cuts to the largest abortion provider in the world and lamented the fact that women in Africa aren't given the right to kill their unborn children like women in Canada are.

Another issue is that Craig is pro-sodomy (we don't know here Marc stands on the issue). Craig publicly attended a charity event where money was being raised for Egale, the largest homosexual activist organization in Canada. It should also be noted that Free the Children was a sponsor for this event. That's right, when your son or daughter is raising money for Free the Children, some of it might be going to charities that Free the Children sponsor, like Egale.

Presenting the Kielburger's as Catholic role models for our students, which is how they will be presented, is scandalous. It is the equivalent of teaching our kids that the killing of unborn children and sodomy are not really sins, much less serious ones. For this reason alone another charity, one without the mixed messages for our kids, should have been chosen.

Imagine if the Kielburger's wrote articles saying they denied the holocaust or defended the slave trade. You can be sure that Free the Children would have been shown the door pretty quickly. Advocating for the slicing up of babies in their mother's wombs on the other hand........doesn't seem to be a problem.

Please contact the following people to express your objections to the Ottawa Catholic School Board's partnership with Free the Children:

Contact Information:
Gordon Butler
Chairman, Ottawa Catholic School Board of Trustees
Phone: 613-828-3573
Fax: 613-828-4472
Email: Gordon.Butler@ottawacatholicschools.ca

Julian Hanlon
Director of Education and Secretary Treasurer, Ottawa Catholic School Board
Phone: 613-224-4455 ext 2272
Fax: 613-228-4158
Email: Director@ottawacatholicschools.ca

Thomas D’Amico
Superintendent of Student Success Department (Learning Technologies)
Phone: 613-224-4455 ext 2303
Fax: 613-224-0793
Email: Thomas.D’Amico@ottawacatholicschools.ca

Archbishop Terrence Prendergast
1247 Kilborn Place
Ottawa, Ontario K1H 6K9
Phone: 613-738-5025
Fax: 613-738-0130
E-mail: archbishop@archottawa.ca

Sex Ed for your kids - the revised edition (Part 2)

2011-09-16T18:01:00.000-07:00

Back in June, we did a post on the revised Grade 7 Fully Alive program's treatment on homosexuality. Specifically, we pointed out how it bore no resemblance to Catholic teaching on the topic. Well the Assembly of Catholic Bishops of Ontario (ACBO) have just released the revised edition of the Grade 8 Fully Alive program. On the first page of this document we read the following:

"The subject of sexual orientation and homosexuality was introduced in Grade 7. In Grade 8, some of this information is reviewed and the moral teaching of our Church on homosexuality is presented."

As a Catholic parent, you're probably thinking this is great. Finally, the Church's teaching on homosexuality is going to be presented to our kids. Better late than never, right? So this is what we get on page 10 and 11:

"A homosexual orientation is an exclusive or predominant sexual attraction to people of the same sex. All people, whether homosexual or heterosexual in orientation, are called by God to be chaste and to honour the gift of sexuality."

The problem with the above line is that our students aren't taught what chastity is and to frame sexuality exclusively as a gift can lead our children to think that one can do what they want with it -- it's a gift, remember. To see the fruits of this line of thinking, one can look no further than a student trustee from Toronto who invoked the "giftedness of sexuality" in her defense of gay clubs in our Catholic schools.

The document gets worse from here on in. On page 14 we get a repeat of the Grade seven nonsense about the normality of homosexual inclinations followed by the following statement:

"Some young adolescents tend to be quite intolerant in their attitudes toward those who are homosexual. In part this is a result of their stage of development with its confusions and uncertainties about sexuality. But their attitudes are often confirmed and strengthened by adults who see only the sexual orientation, and not the person. An important message that young people need to hear at home is that all people have a fundamental dignity and are deserving of respect."

And that's it. That's all our kids will be hearing on the topic. Homosexual inclinations (i.e. crushes) are normal and the implication that we should refrain from correcting those that have embraced the homosexual lifestyle because that would be disrespectful and an attack on their fundamental dignity. There is nothing in the document that makes a distinction between one's inclinations and one's actions - the hallmark of Catholic teaching on the topic. The question every Catholic parent should be asking themselves is why they didn't present the Church's teaching on homosexuality in its entirety. To think it was an accident would be naive. To quote the recently released CCCB document on same-sex attractions:

"Avoidance of difficult questions or watering down the Church’s teaching is always a disservice. Such attitudes could lead young people into grave moral danger.“ Moral conscience requires that, in every occasion, Christians give witness to the whole moral truth, which is contradicted both by approval of homosexual acts and unjust discrimination against homosexual persons.”"

Parents, do your duty and make sure your kids are removed from these classes and write to your bishops about your concerns. Bishops of Ontario, stop abdicating your responsibility and revise this program to reflect the Church's teaching on sexuality and stop putting our children “into grave moral danger”.

How we got here

2011-08-04T17:51:00.000-07:00

This recent article from Catholic Insight is a very good summary of how we got to where we are today with our Catholic schools. Take the time to read it and become an informed parent -- for the sake of your children.

CCCB releases document for Youth with Same-Sex Attraction

2011-07-01T19:03:00.000-07:00

This past week the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) released a document titled, Pastoral Ministry to Young People with Same-Sex Attraction.

This document is a blessing to all faithful parents, teachers, administrators and trustees that are looking for support from the Catholic hierarchy in their ongoing efforts to ensure Catholic schools operate in an authentically Catholic environment.

The following are some highlights from the document that are particularly relevant given the recent debates regarding Gay-Straight Alliances and the implementation of the Equity Strategy in our schools.

In this first quote below the CCCB is sticking with the term "persons with same-sex attraction" and rejecting the words "gay" and "lesbian". Great move -- language matters.

The terms “gay” and “lesbian” are not used to define people in the Church’s official teachings and documents. Although these words are common terms in current speech, and many people use them to describe themselves, they do not describe persons with the fullness and richness that the Church recognizes and respects in every man or woman. Instead, “gay” and “lesbian” are often cultural definitions for people and movements that have accepted homosexual acts and behaviours as morally good.

Next they explain the difference between same-sex inclinations and actions. Solid stuff. Wouldn't it be great if students learned this in their sex-ed (Fully Alive) classes, instead of the idea that homosexual crushes are normal and leave it at that?

In her teaching, however, the Church never condemns persons with same-sex attraction. She carefully distinguishes between an individual’s inclinations or feelings – some of which are transitory and/or situational and others which are deep-seated or permanent – and one’s actions. While homosexual acts are always objectively wrong, same-sex inclinations are not in themselves sinful or a moral failing. To the extent that a same-sex attraction is not freely chosen, there is no personal culpability in having such an inclination. Nonetheless, when oriented toward genital activity, this inclination is “objectively disordered.” This does not mean that the person as a whole is somehow defective or “badly made,” or that he or she has in some way been rejected by God. Inclinations to homosexual acts in no way diminish the full human dignity or intrinsic worth of the person.

In the following quote they touch on who should be counselling our kids. I'm certain there is no screening process currently in place that takes into account a counsellor's commitment to the Church's teaching on sexuality. Would be a great addition to a school board policy (hint..hint for any trustees reading this).

Ensure that professional counsellors or psychologists who see young people are distinguished by their sound human and spiritual maturity. They must be committed to the Christian vision of the human person and sexuality, as well as the Church’s teaching on homosexuality and chastity.

The next quote is a great one and really points to the root of the problem with religious education in our schools today.

Avoidance of difficult questions or watering down the Church’s teaching is always a disservice. Such attitudes could lead young people into grave moral danger.“ Moral conscience requires that, in every occasion, Christians give witness to the whole moral truth, which is contradicted both by approval of homosexual acts and unjust discrimination against homosexual persons.”

This final quote ties in with recent attempt to force gay clubs in our schools. Check out this story on how a group of Catholic students are trying to pull other students into the "gay culture" via their high school approved club "Open Arms".

Second, help them avoid involvement in a “gay culture” opposed to the Church’s teaching, with its often aggressive and immoral lifestyle.

I encourage everyone to read the document in its entirety. It should really be the basis for any discussions or debates related to the implementation of the Equity Strategy in our schools.

We should also note that our very own Archbishop Prendergast was on the commission that was responsible for producing this document. Send him a quick note at: archbishop@archottawa.ca and thank him for his contributions.

Sex Ed for your kids - the revised edition

2011-06-06T17:30:00.000-07:00

Fully Alive is the Family Life Education program sponsored by the Assembly of Catholic Bishops of Ontario (ACBO). Unfortunately, this program, in particular the sections on sexuality, fail to pass along an authentic Catholic view of this topic.

For those of you interested in an excellent summary of the problems with Fully Alive, I invite you to read the following "Brief on Fully Alive" written by the Family Association for Catholic Education.

In the spring of 2006, the ACBO decided to proceed with the development of a 2nd edition of Fully Alive. By the end of 2010, the revised editions of grades one to seven were published, and the family editions (there are also student and teacher editions) were made available on the ACBO website (http://acbo.on.ca/englishweb/fullyalive.htm). Grade 8 of the revised program is to be published this summer.

Give the recent battles over the government's Equity Strategy, I was curious to see how the recently revised grade 6 section approached homosexuality. Grade 6 is the first time this topic is addressed in the program. The following is the relevant excerpt:

It is also normal during adolescence for both males and females to have very strong feelings for people of the same sex. This might be an older student or a teacher whom they admire. Young people may be concerned that this means they are homosexual, but this is not something that they are likely to talk about with anyone. It is helpful if parents have talked about homosexuality, and mentioned the concerns that young people sometimes have and how normal adolescent “crushes” are.

The Catholic Church teaches that same-sex attractions are disordered. Why do they want to tell kids that same-sex attractions are normal? Why not tell them something that reflects the Church's teaching on homosexuality? Why not give our kids real food like this quote from Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz:

Those who experience same-sex attractions must “resist that inclination,” he said. “There are people who are inclined to start fires, or to kill people, or to rob or something, and they can’t give into their inclinations. They have to struggle against them and restrain them.”

Will we ever see something like that in the Fully Alive program? Not with the people that are writing this stuff right now. Parents, do your duty and make sure your kids are removed from these classes. Bishops, stop abdicating your responsibility and revise this program to reflect the faith you have vowed to defend and teach.

Lacklustre response from Bishops

2011-05-01T19:31:00.001-07:00

It has been one month since our letter was mailed out to Ontario's 22 bishops. We had hoped that at least half of them would have responded to our concerns, or at the very least acknowledged receipt of our letter. Unfortunately the response has been underwhelming with only two bishops acknowledging receipt of our letter and neither one of them addressing the issues raised by our correspondence.

Since our letter was sent out, two separate news reports, here and here, have confirmed our concerns about the Equity strategy and the consequences of its implementation in our schools. We've also been discouraged to hear about the bishops themselves encouraging the creation of clubs that exist to specifically address bullying related to sexual orientation. They will be establishing a common framework for these clubs in the coming months.

These clubs will likely be used for the promotion of the homosexual lifestyle, and not to promote chastity. The students in these clubs will not hear the Church's teaching on homosexuality. Which teachers will be leading these clubs? The ones that adhere to the Church's teachings on sexuality? The reality is that gay activists have been very patient in seeking to establish a legitimate presence in our schools and they've just hit the jackpot.

Regardless of the framework the bishops develop, the modus operandi of these new clubs will be either the blatant contradiction of, or silence with regards to, Catholic teaching on homosexuality. Catholic schools have a duty to present Catholic teaching in its entirety to our children --- ALL OF IT. Anything less, and the bishops should already know this, is not worthy of the name "Catholic".

Letter to all Ontario Bishops

2011-04-08T18:54:00.001-07:00

April 3, 2011

To all Bishops of Ontario

Dear Bishop _______,

I represent a Catholic parent’s group concerned about maintaining Catholic identity in Ontario’s Catholic schools, which we believe is threatened by Premier McGuinty’s Equity and Inclusive Education Strategy (EIES). As parents to whom is entrusted the primary responsibility for the education of our children, we turn to you our shepherd in faith for assistance. Please be assured of our filial love to you and mother Church.

The main curriculum advisors to Ontario’s Bishops appear to be the Institute for Catholic Education (ICE), the principal agency tasked with studying curriculum issues on behalf of the Bishops, and also OECTA which has two executives on the ICE table. Furthermore, OECTA is allegedly responsible for certifying who gets to teach religion in our Catholic schools. OECTA also selects and delivers much of the ongoing ‘religious education’ for teachers.

In recent months, alarming news about both these advisors to the Bishops require us, in conscience, to respectfully ask that our shepherds revisit Premier McGuinty’s Equity Strategy. It appears that the assembly of Bishops accepted a so-called “Catholic template version” of the government’s EIES mandate, based in large part, on the recommendation of ICE. We believe the Catholic version policy is dangerously open-ended and represents a bona fide threat to the faith of children in our schools.

Concerns of scandal involving the Bishops’ curriculum advisors which must give you pause

1. According to an eye witness account, Sister Joan Cronin, the Executive Director of ICE, was co-presenter at a January 27, 2011 government training workshop on religious accomodation for Catholic educators. During the workshop, a grade 6 reader called “The Wonderful World of Dads”, which gave a positive portrayal of homosexual family structures, was used. The eye witness said that Sister Cronin was silent and never corrected her co-presenter for using a book which portrayed homosexual family
structures in a positive light. She did not even speak up to suggest that such a book might possibly be inappropriate for a Catholic classroom.

2. According to an eye witness account, Sister Joan Cronin was present on January 24, 2011 at a special meeting of the Toronto Catholic School Board to promote the board’s draft Equity policy. An extremely problematic prayer which attacks section 2357 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church was read aloud by the group as the opening prayer. It specifically attacked the Church’s teaching that homosexual acts are “intrinsically disordered”. The eye witness said that Sister Cronin never once spoke up against the use of the prayer, nor commented about its obvious inappropriateness.

3. On January 7, 2011 a news outlet broke the story that OECTA was listed as a “partner” in the annual report of EGALE, the gay lobby group who coordinated and funded lawsuits across Canada to abolish the traditional definition of marriage. Furthermore, OECTA actually donated money to EGALE for its campaign of setting up Gay-Straight Alliances in schools across Canada.

4. OECTA invited EGALE’s Executive Director, Helen Kennedy, to make a presentation at its 2010 Annual General Meeting where it promoted openly gay, homosexual student clubs.

5. In a December 2010 interview given to The Catholic Register, OECTA’s President, James Ryan, responded to a reporter’s question saying he agreed with using “picture and fairy tale books featuring same sex families to teach students in Kindergarten and primary grades about equity and inclusivity.”

Based on these disturbing facts involving your advisors, we prayerfully ask you, our shepherds, to reconsider the recommendation given by these parties regarding the government’s Equity Strategy and the Catholic template version. As Catholic parents looking out for the best interests of our children we suggest the following:

A) Either rejecting the government’s Equity strategy altogether, or revisioning the “Catholic template version” endorsed by ICE and write a policy that includes specific language to protect Catholic identity. For example, amend the template to require the teaching of section 2357 of the Catechism, as well as other language that would protect against the government agenda to subvert Church teaching on sexual morality.

B) Given the scandals described above and the influence which their positions carry, we would suggest removing Sr. Cronin and OECTA members from the ICE table.

The problem of Premier McGuinty’s EIES cannot be swept under the rug. Eventually it will spill out… but not before thousands of our Catholic teens have lost their faith as a result of the mixed messages and contradictory, pro-gay indoctrination they will receive under the guise of “equity”.

For decades, Catholic schools have given away ground to secularizing, atheistic political forces. The consequence to the faith of our children has been devastating, emptying the pews of young people. The Barna Research Group, in its research on teens, notes that between 1984 to 2008 the percentage of teens that identify with the Catholic faith has fallen from 50% to 32% (Source:Project Teen Canada).

If this many teens have been lost until now, how much will the losses accelerate when Premier McGuinty’s doctrine of “Equity” and “Inclusiveness”, which if taken honestly does not concur with the Catholic faith, is successfully weaved throughout all subjects from Kindergarten to Grade 12?

By informing the Church’s shepherds of our concerns, I have heeded the dictates of my conscience and acted on behalf of my own children and those whom I represent in this organization. We pray that you, our shepherds, will have the wisdom and strength to carry out the will of Christ and protect our children. I hope to dialogue further about our concerns as Catholic parents. Please feel free to contact me.

With love, in Christ,

AP
Concerned Catholic Parents of Ottawa
email: catholiclife777@gmail.com
Web: http://concernedparentsottawa.blogspot.com/

Archbishop Tom Collins Urges Responsible Voting for Catholic Trustee

2010-09-14T03:15:00.000-07:00

Answers to Questionnaire

2010-09-08T19:06:00.000-07:00

As candidate-trustees complete their questionnaires, we will post their answers on this blog.

Please consult the title bar or the side bar to read their answers.

Postings will be made by zone.

Letter to Candidate Trustees

2010-06-27T19:37:00.000-07:00

Dear Candidate Trustee,

I am writing on behalf of a group of concerned Catholic parents. Our primary concern is with the erosion of the distinctive Catholic identity of our Catholic schools.

Given the declaration of your candidacy as a trustee for the Ottawa Catholic School Board, we have a strong interest in receiving your position on a variety of issues that are important to us. To that end, we have attached a short questionnaire in the hope of ascertaining your strength as a candidate.

Our intent is to collect answers from all candidates from all zones and disseminate them as widely as possible to ensure that Catholic voters have the information needed to make an informed choice when they cast their ballots on October 25th.

Your answers will be posted publicly on this blog: http://concernedparentsottawa.blogspot.com/ to help ensure the information reaches as many voters as possible. Our group will, via this website, also endorse the candidates that we feel have the greatest potential to restoring a distinctive Catholic identity to our schools.

We thank you for taking the time to answer our questions.

Sincerely,

Facilitator,
Concerned Catholic Parents of Ottawa

Candidate Questionnaire

Candidate Questionnaire

2010-06-27T19:12:00.000-07:00

Catholic School Board Trustee Candidate Questionnaire

Trustee Candidate Questionnaire

1. Do you adhere to the teachings of the Magisterium on the nature of the Church, the sacraments, life issues, morality, marriage and family and our relationship to other Christian churches and other religions? Do you expect these teachings to be followed in Catholic schools? Will you defend these even if Ministry of Education policies seem to oppose them?

2. Do you support the use of the Catechism of the Catholic Church as a primary resource for religious education classes?

3. Do you support maintaining, or reintroducing, traditional Catholic forms of prayer, pious practices and sacramentals (e.g. Rosary, Stations, Sacred Heart devotions, First Fridays and Saturdays, fasting, novenas, scapulars etc.)?

4. Do you encourage Catholic culture by promoting the study of Catholic history, philosophy, literature, the visual arts and music in the curriculum and by incorporating these where possible into the prayer and liturgical life of schools?

5. If elected, would you back the Ottawa Catholic School Board in its annual support of the National March for Life (NMFL) and, in particular, its commitment to having students from each of the 15 high schools attend the NMFL? As a trustee, would you be willing to participate in the NMFL and walk alongside students and teachers from your representative schools, thereby demonstrating your commitment to life issues?

6. If elected, would you support a motion that ensures schools have a greater visual presence of sacred images (i.e. statues/paintings of Jesus, the Holy Trinity, the Blessed Virgin, saints and/or angels)? If so, would you be willing to put forward such a motion?

7. If elected, would you support motions that nurture the virtue of modesty in our schools? One practical example would be to introduce dress codes where they don't exist or encourage better enforcement in schools where they do exist. If so, would you be willing to put forward such a motion?

8. The Ottawa Catholic School Board website contains presentations from the Equity and Inclusive Education Conference. One of the presentations (Chris D’Souza- Keynote Presentation, http://www.occdsb.on.ca/media.php?mid=52307) is of particular concern. Slide 51 of the presentation related to homophobia indicates that Heterosexism must be opposed, where heterosexism is defined as the assumption that everyone is or should be heterosexual and that heterosexuality is the only normal, natural sexual orientation. This call to fight against and eradicate heterosexism contradicts the Catholic Church’s teaching on homosexuality. According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, homosexual inclinations are “objectively disordered.” The Church calls people with such tendencies to chastity. Homosexual acts, the Catechism states further, are “acts of grave depravity,” and “under no circumstances can they be approved” (2357-2359). If elected, would you support a motion that ensured all material on the Ottawa Catholic School Board’s website, including links, do not contradict or undermine Church teaching on faith and morals? In the case of this particular presentation, would you act to ensure its removal from the website and bar this particular speaker from any further presentations to the OCSB community as it has been demonstrated that part(s) of his equity and diversity message are in direct opposition to the teachings of the Catholic Church?

9. According to the Sacred Congregation for Catholic Education (1977), "Where difficulties and conflicts arise about the authentic Christian character of the Catholic school, hierarchical authority can and must intervene" (The Catholic School, Rome, ¶ 73). The Catholic philosophy of education maintains that the teacher be an example and model of Catholic integrity to their students and community. In cases where a teacher’s personal life (including their religious beliefs) is continuously lived out in a manner that are not in accord with the teachings of the Catholic Church, would you use your authority to enact corrective measures (including possible termination of employment)? Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• teachers living out a homosexual lifestyle
• teachers who are divorced and "remarried"(and whose first marriage has not been annulled by the Catholic Church)
• teachers who are currently living in common-law relationships

10. As Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Denver, Colorado recently stated, "The main purpose of Catholic schools is religious; in other words, to form students in Catholic faith, Catholic morality and Catholic social values” (Denver Catholic Register, March 10, 2010). Given this statement, would you support a motion calling for the revision of the family life, health and sex education programs so as to promote the virtue of chastity and bring these curricula in line with the Venerable John Paul II's teaching on marriage and human sexuality which is known as “Theology of the Body”?

11. The Ontario Ministry of Education has mandated every school board in the province to develop an Equity & Inclusive Education Policy. If elected, would you be willing to put forward a motion that would add the following written clauses to the Ottawa Catholic School Board's Equity & Inclusive Education Policy:

Whenever the topic of homosexuality (or the existence of homosexual family structures) is discussed, the teacher must clearly present sections 2357 and 2358 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church in their entirety. Under no circumstances will section 2357 be presented as if it contradicts or supercedes section 2358.
Under no circumstances will external organizations which promote messages or defend lifestyles that contradict the Church's teaching about homosexuality, be invited to give presentations, classroom lessons, or to serve as counseling referrals for Catholic students, teachers or principals. Gay/Straight Alliances and Gay Pride clubs (which are normally associated with an embracing of the gay lifestyle) are strictly forbidden.
Whenever a potential need for youth counselling in areas of sexual identity confusion or same-sex attraction, the parent must be notified before any referral is given by school staff. If the parent agrees to counselling, only resources totally faithful to Catholic teaching on homosexuality and marriage can be provided.

The sections of the Catechism of the Catholic Church mentioned above can be found below for your convenience.

2357 - Homosexuality refers to relations between men or between women who experience an exclusive or predominant sexual attraction toward persons of the same sex. It has taken a great variety of forms through the centuries and in different cultures. Its psychological genesis remains largely unexplained. Basing itself on Sacred Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity, tradition has always declared that "homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered." They are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved.

2358 - The number of men and women who have deep-seated homosexual tendencies is not negligible. This inclination, which is objectively disordered, constitutes for most of them a trial. They must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided. These persons are called to fulfill God's will in their lives and, if they are Christians, to unite to the sacrifice of the Lord's Cross the difficulties they may encounter from their condition.