Late to the party, but it’s still good they came
A(nother) Catholic group will be returning the Orders of Canada bestowed to its members.
A Roman Catholic group is returning Orders of Canada bestowed on two priests to protest a decision to award the honour to Dr. Henry Morgentaler.
The Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate says it is returning the honours given to Father Anthony Sylla of Edmonton in 1971 and to Father Michael Smith of Toronto in 1979.
Sylla was honoured for his work as a missionary in Western Canada and Smith was honoured for his work in helping war refugees.
The Roman Catholic group says it is astonished and outraged with the appointment of the abortion rights crusader and says awarding the honour to Morgentaler has damaged the award’s reputation.
Two questions, both of which I suppose could be considered to be directed at Governor General Michaelle Jean:
- How many returned Orders is that, now?
- Was giving the award to Morgentaler worth the price of that many returned snowflakes, and the attendant bad PR?
Not sure what took the Mary Immaculate folks this long to come around to handing in the Orders — Morgentaler got his snowflake back in October — but it’s nice to see them doing it all the same. The decision to induct the abortion doctor into the Order is one that will haunt the Governor General (and the image of the Order of Canada) for years to come.
Which, I think, is only fitting.
What I look forward to seeing is the day when the first recipient-to-be declines the award based on its association with Morgentaler.
