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Canadian Catholic Priest/Politician Says He Supports Abortion on TV Show
LifeSiteNews.com ^ | October 4, 2007 | Marie-Christine Houle and John-Henry Westen

Posted on 10/07/2007 6:57:52 PM PDT by monomaniac

Canadian Catholic Priest/Politician Says He Supports Abortion on TV Show

Also publicly supports homosexuality; local bishop still refuses to discipline priest

By Marie-Christine Houle and John-Henry Westen

MONTREAL, October 4, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Father Raymond Gravel, the Quebec priest turned federal politician, has once again brought scandal to the Catholic Church by publicly voicing his stand in favour of abortion.

On a French-language television show, Gravel was presented as a Catholic priest and Bloc Québécois MP (Member of Parliament) for Repentigny debating an Imam.

In an article published in Le Soleil, reporter Richard Therrien reports that the conversation between Gravel and Iman Said Jaziri remained civilized until the topic of homosexuality was brought onto the table. The Imam noted his religion's opposition to homosexuality calling it "unnatural" and "a sin" while Gravel defended it. 

The Imam then confronted Gravel and said "Perhaps you chose to defend them (active homosexuals) because you are yourself, homosexual". Gravel replied by stating: "I also support abortion although I have never had one!"

Therrien's article reveals other disturbing elements such as the fact that Mr. Gravel walked away from the discussion table in such a fury, that the production team of the show Le 3950 was forced to edit out the swear words he used to express himself.

In 2006, LifeSiteNews.com reported that the Vatican had banned any priest from entering politics.  However, Gravel had the express permission of his bishop for the move.  Bishop Lussier of the diocese of Joliette allowed Mr. Gravel to run for the Bloc Québécois.

Gilles Ferland, Communications Director for the Joliette diocese, told LifeSiteNews.com at the time that there was an agreement made that Gravel was not to endorse policies that went against the Church doctrine while holding public office.

Gravel has repeatedly supported homosexuality and spoken out in favor of abortion. So far, he has suffered no known consequences for those declarations and remains a priest.

LifeSiteNews.com contacted the Joliette diocese for comment on this story. Calls were not returned by press time.

To respectfully communicate concern:

The Most Rev. Luigi Ventura, Apostolic Nuncio
724 Manor Ave.
Ottawa, ON K1M 0E3
Phone: (613) 746-4914
FAX: (613) 746-4786

Diocèse de Joliette
2, rue St-Charles-Borromée Nord
C.P. 470
Joliette, Qc
J6E 6H6

Telephone: (450) 753-7596
fax: (450) 753-7933
e-mail: communication@diocesedejoliette.org

Mail or fax (most effective):
William Cardinal Levada
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
Piazza del S. Uffizio, 11, 00193 Roma, Italy
Fax: 06.69.88.34.09

To email the CDF:
William Cardinal Levada
E-mail: cdf@cfaith.va

See related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:

"Pro-Choice", Pro-Gay Priest Given Permission from Bishop but not Vatican to Run for Politics
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/oct/06103002.html


TOPICS: Canada; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: abortion; bishop; catholic; homosexualagenda; homosexuality; naturallaw; politics; priest; profanity; prolife; scandal; sodomy; vatican

1 posted on 10/07/2007 6:57:55 PM PDT by monomaniac
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To: monomaniac

But, I would venture to guess, he is against capital punishment.


2 posted on 10/07/2007 7:19:33 PM PDT by doc1019 (Fred Thompson '08)
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To: monomaniac

Soon to be excommunicated....stay tuned.


3 posted on 10/07/2007 7:57:58 PM PDT by Apercu ("A man's character is his fate" - Heraclitus)
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To: monomaniac; BlackElk

Sick.


4 posted on 10/07/2007 8:02:20 PM PDT by fieldmarshaldj (~~~Jihad Fever -- Catch It !~~~ (Backup tag: "Live Fred or Die"))
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To: monomaniac

Some Catholic.


5 posted on 10/07/2007 8:15:27 PM PDT by imahawk (Defeat liberalism, its the right thing to do for America.)
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To: Apercu
Soon to be excommunicated....

Probably, certain to repent or be defrocked!

6 posted on 10/07/2007 8:19:25 PM PDT by Lucius Cornelius Sulla (IF TREASON IS THE QUESTION, THEN MOVEON.ORG IS THE ANSWER!)
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To: monomaniac
Whew. Times are tough when a member of a dark ages death cult is on a higher moral plain than a vicar of Christ from Holy Mother Church. And the Church won’t deal with him.
7 posted on 10/07/2007 8:50:56 PM PDT by isrul (Lamentations 5:2)
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To: monomaniac

Guess the demons got him.


8 posted on 10/07/2007 10:03:25 PM PDT by yldstrk (My heros have always been cowboys--Reagan and Bush)
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