According to this CCCB spin memo, Archbishop Prendergast has cancelled the speaker’s engagements based on allegations and the fear of “prayer protests”. That is a gross misrepresentation of what the Archbishop stated in his letter on Fr. Arriaga.
According to the statement he published (on the archdiocese website), the Archbishop was not at all manipulated by allegations and the fear of public opinion (prayer protests). Rather, he followed a very evangelical course of action in dealing with this controversy (see Matthew 18:15-17).
From the Archbishop’s statement :
“The Archbishop met with Father Luis Arriaga, director of the Miguel Pro Centre for Human Rights (PRODH) on his arrival in Ottawa and discussed with him, and with representatives of Development and Peace, the Centre’s support of groups espousing abortion.”
He met directly with Fr. Arriaga, asked questions and then concluded that he could not endorse this speaker’s engagements in his archdiocese. That’s not basing a decision on allegations and the fear of protests.
That may be the modus operandi of the career cath’lics at the CCCB, but that is not how a true Shepherd of the Church behaves. Thank you Archbishop, for being a good shepherd.
You're a grown-up Catholic.
Read it for yourself.
You decide.
Update: Hat-tip to Mike: Does D & P not get it? Written by Fr. Raymond J. de Souza Tuesday, 05 April 2011