“I am at a loss to understand how there has been any misinterpretation of a practical decision made with honesty and without any discrimination,” he said.
According to the bishop, the original unrest at St. Michael’s was the refusal of “a few parishioners” to accept a new pastor. Some parish volunteers were the objects of “tension, criticism and division,” which led the bishop to meet with the church’s pastor, Fr. Allan Hood, and to correspond with various parishioners.
“I then asked Fr. Hood to kindly invite the volunteers involved, particularly those who were the object of tension and disagreement, to step aside and give the chance to other volunteers to serve,” the bishop recalled.
He reported that these volunteers included some who served as readers, Eucharistic ministers, adult altar services, Church Restoration Committee members and others.
“I asked Father Hood to thank them for the service done so far in the Parish, but to know that it was now time to allow others the chance to serve as volunteers,” the bishop wrote. He added that he had personally written to remind them that their volunteer services was on a “temporary basis” and their stepping down would allow all parishioners the opportunity to volunteer.
Those who stepped down, despite some “sadness and frustration,” did so in “humility and obedience” to the bishop.
Concluding his letter, Bishop De Angelis said that Catholics go to church to share the “bread of life” that “makes us one.” He noted St. Paul’s comments in the Letter to the Galatians that “all are one in Christ Jesus.”
“Even though we play different roles, we all have the same dignity - that of being children of God created in His image and likeness,” the bishop continued, encouraging St. Michael’s parishioners to reconcile with each other “in humility and obedience to the bishop.”
Canadian human rights tribunals have previously been used against Catholics by homosexuals who allege discrimination. In 2005 Bishop Fred Henry of Calgary was the subject of a complaint to the Alberta Human Rights Commission because of a pastoral letter he issued to parishioners in January against homosexuality and same-sex “marriage.”
In February 2007 the Canadian magazine Catholic Insight faced a Canadian Human Rights Commission complaint from a man who used isolated quotes from the magazine to claim it created a tone of “extreme hatred and contempt” against homosexuals. Although the complaint was dropped in July of 2008, the modestly funded magazine was forced to incur over $20,000 in legal expenses.