Toronto, Canada, Jul 9, 2008 / 21:08 pm
Sister Margaret Smith, a Catholic nun who was awarded the Order of Canada for working to bring health care programs to northern Canada, has said she may return the decoration to protest the granting of the medal to abortionist Dr. Henry Morgentaler. If she returns her medal, she will become the fourth honoree to return the Order of Canada in the wake of the bestowal of the award on Morgentaler, who played a major role in the legalization of abortion in Canada.
Sister Smith said she was “profoundly shocked and saddened” to hear that Morgentaler had been honored with the same award, the Canadian Press reports.
Following the Governor General’s July 1 announcement of Morgentaler’s decoration, others have returned their Order of Canada medals.
Father Lucien Larre, a priest in Coquitlam, British Columbia who was awarded the Order of Canada in 1983 for founding Bosco Houses for troubled adolescents, said last week he was “compelled in conscience to return my Order of Canada to Ottawa.”