LifeSiteNews In Canada Hit by Lawsuit From a Pro-Abort Priest

Fr. Raymond Gravel, a pro-abortion priest from Quebec Canada is suing LifeSiteNews for for libel. LifeSiteNews has done more that a few articles about him & his support for abortion. IMHO, as you will see this is all about his getting revenge for LSN getting the truth out about his dissident views.

Fr. Gravel was a member of the Canadian Parliament. In 2006 he ran as the caniddate for the Bloc Québécois party & was elected as representative of the Repentigny district of Quebec. He did so with a dispensation from Gilles Lussier, bishop of Joliette. Why the Bishop allowed him to run in the 1st place makes absolutely no sense. Gravel has been very clear & public about his dissent from catholic teaching, especially on abortion. In a 2004 radio interview “I am pro-choice and there is not a bishop on earth that will prevent me from receiving Communion, not even the Pope.” At that point Bishop Lussier should have called him in & made it clear he was not to dissent from Catholic teaching or leave the priesthood. Rather Lussier allowed him to run, knowing full well he would vote pro-abortion.

While in Parliament he opposed Bill C-484, which would have recognized injury of a fetus during a crime as a separate offence from an injury to the mother. Additionally, in 2008 he publicly defended the awarding of Canada’s highest civilian award to the country’s ‘father of abortion’ – arch-abortionist Henry Morgentaler! Even then his bishop did nothing. Finally word did get back to the Vatican. He was givcn an ultimatum, leave politics or the priesthood. When the 40th Canadian General Election was called in 2008 he chose not to run for reelection. He claimed that the priesthood was his life. (Excuse me while I gag.)

Not only does he dissent from the Catholic Church's teaching on abortion, he dissents on the Church's teaching on homoseuality & same sex marriage as well.

In fact, given his life history, the question of whay he was even allowed to become a priest in the 1st place comes up. (OK, this is somewhat rhethorical given the condition of the Catholic Church in Canada as TH2 has so often documented at his blog.) In 1982 at age 29 he entered the seminary. Before then, well. . . . He left home at age 16. Soon thereafter hebegan working as a male escort. He quit that after he was so badly beaten one day by a client that he ended up in intensive care. He then worked at 2 gay bars until he was accepted as a seminarian in 1982. We have another example of the damage the "Spirit of Vatican II" gang has wrought. Back then this was acceptable. The more you dissented from Catholic teaching the better. But this is a rant for another day.

At this point it should be clear that the current Bishop as well as his predicessors knew exactly what Gravel stands for. & they let him get away with it.

Thankfully LifeSiteNews has shone the light on him. I did a post myself on him in 2009 based on a LSN piece. (Fr. Gravel Have You Ever Heard of A Group Called Courage???) This story was about Gravel's claims that people cannot successful change their sexual orientation.At the end of the LSN piece was the contact info for Bishop Lussier. Along with several other stories done by LSN.

In 2009 Gravel wrote a letter to the French language Le Devoir. In it he accuses LSN of a witch hunt. He also said that when his bishop received a letter from the Vatican “which forced me to retire from political life,” that attached to the letter “was a file almost exclusively in English made up of negative comments about me … which came from those ultra-conservative media.” He even complained about LifeSiteNews during a speech on the floor of the House of Commons!

In 2010 he was removed from his position as chief catechist for the diocese. Again I have to ask why the Bishop even put him there in the 1st place? Also given his history of dissent, why was he even given the post in the 1st place? & why is the Bishop allowing him to still function as a priest at a parish, St-Joachim de la Plaine Church in La Plaine, Quebec? Gravel celebrates a "gay pride mass' at least twice a year.

But Gravel isn't happy about the light being shone on him. In fact he clearly blames LifeSiteNews for his woes.

He argues that he isn’t pro-abortion, but he has said in the past that he is “pro-choice". He may have used the term pro-choice, but he knows full well that the choice he is in favor of is abortion. & during his political career he was rated as ‘pro-abortion’ by the political arm of the pro-life movement. Part of his suit is based on this claim that in calling him pro-abortion they have misrepresented him. Another part of the suit claims that he lost his job as chief catechist because of the coverage of him by LSN.

Yes LSN has brought to light the evil done by Gravel. & in doing so, they very well may have had a part in forcing his Bishop to do something. Which brings me to another question: Why is his Bishop even allowing this lawsuit to take place? I may be wrong, but I thing the Bishop is more than a little sympathetic to Gravel's positions & may not be too happy about what LSN has done either. IMHO this may be the Bishop's way of getting back while keeping his fingerprints off of it. If it is, it just may backfire. I suspect that the Vatican may be still watching things & there is more to Gravel's being romoved than we know at this time.

The Chicago based Thomas More Society has offered to help LSN in this case. They are a leading Pro-life Law Center. Amiong their more famous cases was their defense of Joseph Scheidler & his Chicago-based Pro-Life Action League against NOW's attempts to have them charged with racketeering under RICO. The Supreme Court ruled in Scheidler's favor, twice. They are also working to defend the Notre Dame 88.

But as LSN points out, they are American based. & LSN is in Canada. So that does put some limits on what they can or can't do. That means that they are facing additional burdens on an already tight budget. & while $500,000 doesn't sound like a lot in comparison to many lawsuits these days, it is a full year's budget for LSN.

I don't often put in plugs asking you to donate. But this is 1 of those times I feel I have to. LSN has been a very important resource to me in my small part in battling the "culture of death". & it is understandable that the Pro-abort side of the battle would love to see this voice shut down. So please, if you can, help them out.

Full story & appeal for donations to help: LifeSiteNews is being sued for $500,000 - this could shut us down!

Additional information: SOMETHING QUITE WONDERFUL Section XIV in particular - footnotes have links to LSN stories about Gravel

Wikipedia bio of Fr. Gravel

Additional coverage (Added 17 Feb 2011 @ 2:41 pm) Catholic Priest Sues Pro-life News Site for Defamation

Quebec priest sues LifeSiteNews.com for defamation

Fr. Gravel's claim that “I am against abortion but LifeSiteNews.com says always I am for abortion,” is pure BS. If he was truly against abortion he would never have earned the Pro-abort record he did while in parliament. The arguments he uses are the same old tired ones used by those to justify keeping it legal. & as long as he thinks it shouldn't be made illegal he is at odds with Catholic teaching as well as pro-abortion.