Yesssssssssssss

Way to go, Archbishop! Update to this post.

Prendergast has cancelled the speaking engagements of the head of one of Development and Peace’s partners, after personally investigating and finding that the actions of the partner are “incompatible with the Church’s defence of the right to life from conception to natural death.”

The archbishop has cancelled the scheduled appearances of Father Luis Arriaga, director of the Miguel Pro Centre for Human Rights (PRODH), who was to appear at the diocesan centre Saturday and at Catholic parishes in the archdiocese over the weekend.

A notice on the archdiocesan website announced that the archbishop had met with Fr. Arriaga upon his arrival in Ottawa, and “discussed with him, and with representatives of Development and Peace, the Centre’s support of groups espousing abortion.”

Just one question: why was the guy ever allowed to make it this far? The decision to "disinvite" him should have been made long ago. His travel expenses paid for by Canadian Catholics: your "Share Lent" contributions hard at work.

The confirmation by Archbishop Prendergast of PRODH’s pro-abortion activities is extremely significant for LifeSiteNews (LSN) and those who have followed the Development and Peace funding scandal over the past two years. The Miguel Pro Centre is one of the first five groups LSN identified as pro-abortion in our inaugural report on the scandal in 2009. It was also one of the five groups investigated – and cleared of any wrongdoing* - by a delegation of Canadian bishops (led by Development and Peace staff) who went to Mexico to try to determine the veracity of LSN’s reports.

(*Not unlike the result you could expect if you asked the fox to investigate why chickens are disappearing from the henhouse...)

The report on the conclusion of the investigation signed by the two investigating bishops and endorsed by Archbishop James Weisgerber, then-President of the Canadian Bishops’ Conference, stated “we believe the allegations by Lifesite News … are not founded on the facts.”

That report, never retracted or corrected despite subsequent findings of numerous other pro-abortion groups funded by Development and Peace, plus additional, highly incriminating evidence on the original groups, slammed LSN as a “counter-witness to the Gospel.”

Perhaps, like Bill Clinton, it all depends on your what your definition of "facts" is. (Not to mention your definition of "Gospel".) This just doesn't look good at all, especially in light of how ecclesiastical bureaucracy has, in the past, hushed up other sorts of scandals.

Archbishop Prendergast is the first Canadian bishop to have publicly stated that a specific Development and Peace partner group is acting in a manner incompatible with the right to life.

And so I say again, Way to go, Archbishop!!

via LSN