Bishop Chastises Political Priest

EWTN reports:

A Ukrainian Catholic bishop in Canada has rebuked a priest who endorsed a pro-abortion political candidate.

LifeSiteNews.com reported on April 3 that a Liberal Party meeting to nominate Michael Ignatieff had been held at the Christ the Good Shepherd Parish St. Michael's Ukrainian Catholic Church in Toronto. Ignatieff, whose stands in favor of abortion and same-sex marriage are well known, had his nomination seconded by the pastor of the church, Father Terry Lozynsky.

Not only did the priest support the canidacy of a person who definately does not uphold the teachings of the Church, in matters as serious as abortion, but he went so far as participating in it (through the nomination). This is not the role of priests.

Bishop Stephen Chmilar, the Ukrainian Bishop of Toronto and Eastern Canada, acknowledged the incident and noted: "Father Terry was called into our office to explain his actions and we pointed out to him that based on canon law, at no time is any of our clergy to be part of, or deemed to be associated with, any political party except in the judgment of the Eparchial Bishop, if a particular law so states the need to protect the rights of the church or to promote the common good requires it."

Moreover, the Bishop Chmilar wrote: "It was also acknowledged that by promoting Mr. Ignatieff, that indirectly he was promoting the political stance on abortion and gay rights legislation that the candidate has."

Reading on, it is not clear that the priest was fully aware of the implications of his actions. That said, I'm glad that the Bishops had what it took to let him know that he was wrong. I wonder what would have happened if this had been a Canadian Roman Rite priest...

-JG