Ottawa, Canada, Nov 6, 2003 / 22:00 pm
While most Canadian citizens and politicians have settled into the idea that the legalization of same-sex marriage is only a matter of time, Canada’s bishops are holding fast and saying that the battle to retain the traditional definition of marriage in Canada is not over yet.
At the annual plenary of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB), which ended last week, outgoing president Bishop Jacques Berthelet told the assembly of bishops that “the game isn’t over yet,” reported Canadian Catholic News (CCN).
The Supreme Court of Canada is expected to hold hearings in the upcoming year on the draft legislation for same-sex marriage, submitted for judicial review in July by the federal government. Bishop Berthelet pledged that the Canadian bishops would present their arguments to the court at that time.
The Canadian bishops have been involved in the debate on same-sex marriage since its inception last year. They issued an official statement in September and presented a brief at the public hearings held across the country in the spring.