Lewis Garnsworthy
Encyclopedia
Lewis Samuel Garnsworthy (1922–January 26, 1990) was a Canadian
religious leader. He served as the Anglican
Bishop of Toronto
from 1972 to 1989 and was the Archbishop
of the ecclesiastical province of Ontario from 1979 to 1985.
, the son of an unemployed carpenter. Raised in a non-religious environment, he became a practising Christian
after being taken to Bible
class at age seventeen. He received a Bachelor's Degree
at the University of Alberta
in 1943 and later earned a theological degree from Wycliffe College
in Toronto. He spent twenty-two years as a priest
in the city before being elected as an assistant bishop in 1968.
was divided into five regions in 1980, Garnsworthy was given charge of the downtown division. Garnsworthy was a frequent guest at official state functions, and in 1981 he conducted the funeral ceremonies for former premier
John Robarts
.
Views on the Church in Canadian society
Garnsworthy argued in 1982 that the Anglican Church should stop performing civil marriage
ceremonies. Saying that the church should not act as a "cheap auxiliary to the state," he called for Canadian marriages to consist of a civil marriage performed by the state with the additional option of a "service of blessing" for those who wish it. At the time, Garnsworthy's views were considered controversial.
He acknowledged in 1986 that the Anglican Church had only limited influence in Canada's "comfortable" society, saying that it had more authority in places like South Africa
where it was the victim of persecution. He rejected the suggestion that the church could rebrand itself in the manner of American televangelists, saying "I don't think you can sell religion like soap." In 1988, he accepted a court ruling that ended compulsory recitations of the Lord's Prayer
in Ontario public schools.
In 1983, Garnsworthy and Community and Social Services Minister Frank Drea
signed an agreement for the Government of Ontario
and various churches to provide housing, meals, and day programs for poor and mentally ill individuals.
The role of women within the Church
Garnsworthy initially opposed the ordination of women, but later reversed his position and became a proponent of the policy.
LGBT issues
In 1979, Garnsworthy defended the Anglican Church's decision to accept openly gay priests on condition that such individuals refrain from same-sex activity. He argued that the decision was not a change of policy for the church and that the same restrictions applied to heterosexual priests in relationships out of wedlock. Brent Hawkes
of the Metropolitan Community Church of Toronto
cautiously accepted the decision as a step forward, although he added that the requirement for celibacy would still result in gay priests being closeted.
Separate school funding
Garnsworthy took part in a high-profile dispute with the Government of Ontario
from 1984 to 1986, after Progressive Conservative
premier Bill Davis
made a surprise decision to fund Ontario's public and Catholic high schools on an equal footing. (The province had previously funded Catholic education only as far as Grade Ten.) Garnsworthy strongly opposed the decision and wrote an article complaining that the religious and moral values of the Roman Catholic Church
had in effect been given official state sanction. In particular, he wrote that he did not accept the Catholic positions on family planning, contraception
, and abortion
, nor did he accept the church's claim to be the sole arbiter of religious truth. Some believe that this intervention had the effect of dividing the funding issue along religious lines. Garnsworthy responded that he was not anti-Catholic and did not want to revive sectarian conflicts from the nineteenth century, but that he believed in and wanted to defend Ontario's public education system.
During the 1985 provincial election
, Garnsworthy accused Davis of changing the province's education system in the same manner as Adolf Hitler
in 1930s Germany
. He declined to withdraw the analogy, saying "This is how Hitler changed education in Germany, by exactly the same process, by decree. I won't take that back." (He later clarified that he was not comparing Davis with Hitler in a more general sense.) Frank Miller
, who had by this time succeeded Davis as premier and was continuing his funding policy, described the comment as "odious" and "totally unfounded."
Many believe this controversy caused significant damage for the Progressive Conservatives in the 1985 election, costing them support among their historically strong constituency of Anglican voters. David Rotenberg
, a cabinet minister defeated in his bid for re-election, remarked, "I think [Garnsworthy] would probably get the Ian Paisley
award of the year because his speech certainly made it respectable to be anti-Catholic." The Progressive Conservatives actually won the election by a narrow margin and formed a minority government
afterwards, but lost power two months later after being defeated in the legislature.
The new government of Liberal
premier David Peterson
continued Davis and Miller's support for full Catholic school funding, and Garnsworthy continued his battle against the legislation. In 1986, Garnsworthy argued that teachers applying for positions in the Catholic system should not be required to have a letter of recommendation from a priest; his position was that this requirement prevented non-Catholics from seeking a publicly funded office. Despite his efforts, full funding was extended to Catholic schools by the Peterson government.
Other views
Garnsworthy defended Ontario's Sunday shopping
laws in 1986 and argued that store owners who violated the laws were exploiting their non-unionized employees. In 1987, he spoke against a proposal to re-institute the death penalty in Canada. Garnsworthy spoke in support of AIDS
victims in 1987, saying that they have a right to pastoral care within the church community and expressing concern at "fear and ignorance abroad about AIDS."
Garnsworthy underwent surgery to remove a cancerous lung in July 1983. He died in January 1990. The Lewis Garnsworthy Residence on Toronto's Dufferin Street is named in his honour.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
religious leader. He served as the Anglican
Anglican Church of Canada
The Anglican Church of Canada is the Province of the Anglican Communion in Canada. The official French name is l'Église Anglicane du Canada. The ACC is the third largest church in Canada after the Roman Catholic Church and the United Church of Canada, consisting of 800,000 registered members...
Bishop of Toronto
Bishop of Toronto
Bishop of Toronto may refer to:* the Anglican Bishop of the Diocese of Toronto* the Roman Catholic Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Toronto* the Greek Orthodox Metropolitan of the Metropolis of Toronto...
from 1972 to 1989 and was the Archbishop
Archbishop
An archbishop is a bishop of higher rank, but not of higher sacramental order above that of the three orders of deacon, priest , and bishop...
of the ecclesiastical province of Ontario from 1979 to 1985.
Early life
Garnsworthy was born in Edmonton, AlbertaAlberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
, the son of an unemployed carpenter. Raised in a non-religious environment, he became a practising Christian
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
after being taken to Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
class at age seventeen. He received a Bachelor's Degree
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
at the University of Alberta
University of Alberta
The University of Alberta is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta and Henry Marshall Tory, its first president, it is widely recognized as one of the best universities in Canada...
in 1943 and later earned a theological degree from Wycliffe College
Wycliffe College
Wycliffe College is an Anglican Church of Canada seminary federated with the University of Toronto. It is evangelical and Low church in orientation. On the other hand, the University of Toronto's other Anglican college, the University of Trinity College is Anglo-Catholic in outlook. While being an...
in Toronto. He spent twenty-two years as a priest
Priest
A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...
in the city before being elected as an assistant bishop in 1968.
Bishop of Toronto
In 1972, he was chosen as the ninth Bishop of Toronto. In this capacity, he presided over a diocese of 160,000 people, the largest in Canada. He became an archbishop in 1979. When the Anglican Diocese of TorontoAnglican Diocese of Toronto
The Diocese of Toronto is an administrative division of the Anglican Church of Canada covering the central part of southern Ontario. It has the most members of any Anglican diocese in Canada. It is also one of the biggest Anglican dioceses in the Americas in terms of numbers of parishioners, clergy...
was divided into five regions in 1980, Garnsworthy was given charge of the downtown division. Garnsworthy was a frequent guest at official state functions, and in 1981 he conducted the funeral ceremonies for former premier
Premier of Ontario
The Premier of Ontario is the first Minister of the Crown for the Canadian province of Ontario. The Premier is appointed as the province's head of government by the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, and presides over the Executive council, or Cabinet. The Executive Council Act The Premier of Ontario...
John Robarts
John Robarts
John Parmenter Robarts, PC, CC, QC was a Canadian lawyer and statesman, and the 17th Premier of Ontario.-Early life:...
.
Views on the Church in Canadian society
Garnsworthy argued in 1982 that the Anglican Church should stop performing civil marriage
Civil marriage
Civil marriage is marriage performed by a government official and not a religious organization.-History:Every country maintaining a population registry of its residents keeps track of marital status, and most countries believe that it is their responsibility to register married couples. Most...
ceremonies. Saying that the church should not act as a "cheap auxiliary to the state," he called for Canadian marriages to consist of a civil marriage performed by the state with the additional option of a "service of blessing" for those who wish it. At the time, Garnsworthy's views were considered controversial.
He acknowledged in 1986 that the Anglican Church had only limited influence in Canada's "comfortable" society, saying that it had more authority in places like South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
where it was the victim of persecution. He rejected the suggestion that the church could rebrand itself in the manner of American televangelists, saying "I don't think you can sell religion like soap." In 1988, he accepted a court ruling that ended compulsory recitations of the Lord's Prayer
Lord's Prayer
The Lord's Prayer is a central prayer in Christianity. In the New Testament of the Christian Bible, it appears in two forms: in the Gospel of Matthew as part of the discourse on ostentation in the Sermon on the Mount, and in the Gospel of Luke, which records Jesus being approached by "one of his...
in Ontario public schools.
In 1983, Garnsworthy and Community and Social Services Minister Frank Drea
Frank Drea
James Francis Drea was a Canadian journalist, broadcaster, politician and racehorse enthusiast.-Background:...
signed an agreement for the Government of Ontario
Government of Ontario
The Government of Ontario refers to the provincial government of the province of Ontario, Canada. Its powers and structure are set out in the Constitution Act, 1867....
and various churches to provide housing, meals, and day programs for poor and mentally ill individuals.
The role of women within the Church
Garnsworthy initially opposed the ordination of women, but later reversed his position and became a proponent of the policy.
LGBT issues
In 1979, Garnsworthy defended the Anglican Church's decision to accept openly gay priests on condition that such individuals refrain from same-sex activity. He argued that the decision was not a change of policy for the church and that the same restrictions applied to heterosexual priests in relationships out of wedlock. Brent Hawkes
Brent Hawkes
Brent Hawkes, is a Canadian clergyman. Since 1977, he has served as senior pastor of Metropolitan Community Church of Toronto for LGBT parishioners, and is one of Canada's leading gay rights activists....
of the Metropolitan Community Church of Toronto
Metropolitan Community Church of Toronto
The Metropolitan Community Church of Toronto is a congregation of the worldwide Metropolitan Community Church movement located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and is an welcoming congregation openly affirming lesbian, gay, bisexual, heterosexual and transgender people...
cautiously accepted the decision as a step forward, although he added that the requirement for celibacy would still result in gay priests being closeted.
Separate school funding
Garnsworthy took part in a high-profile dispute with the Government of Ontario
Government of Ontario
The Government of Ontario refers to the provincial government of the province of Ontario, Canada. Its powers and structure are set out in the Constitution Act, 1867....
from 1984 to 1986, after Progressive Conservative
Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario
The Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario , is a right-of-centre political party in Ontario, Canada. The party was known for many years as "Ontario's natural governing party." It has ruled the province for 80 of the years since Confederation, including an uninterrupted run from 1943 to 1985...
premier Bill Davis
Bill Davis
William Grenville "Bill" Davis, was the 18th Premier of Ontario, Canada, from 1971 to 1985. Davis was first elected as the MPP for Peel in the 1959 provincial election where he was a backbencher in Leslie Frost's government. Under John Robarts, he was a cabinet minister overseeing the education...
made a surprise decision to fund Ontario's public and Catholic high schools on an equal footing. (The province had previously funded Catholic education only as far as Grade Ten.) Garnsworthy strongly opposed the decision and wrote an article complaining that the religious and moral values of the Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
had in effect been given official state sanction. In particular, he wrote that he did not accept the Catholic positions on family planning, contraception
Contraception
Contraception is the prevention of the fusion of gametes during or after sexual activity. The term contraception is a contraction of contra, which means against, and the word conception, meaning fertilization...
, and abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
, nor did he accept the church's claim to be the sole arbiter of religious truth. Some believe that this intervention had the effect of dividing the funding issue along religious lines. Garnsworthy responded that he was not anti-Catholic and did not want to revive sectarian conflicts from the nineteenth century, but that he believed in and wanted to defend Ontario's public education system.
During the 1985 provincial election
Ontario general election, 1985
The Ontario general election of 1985 was held on May 2, 1985, to elect members of the 33rd Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada...
, Garnsworthy accused Davis of changing the province's education system in the same manner as Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
in 1930s Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. He declined to withdraw the analogy, saying "This is how Hitler changed education in Germany, by exactly the same process, by decree. I won't take that back." (He later clarified that he was not comparing Davis with Hitler in a more general sense.) Frank Miller
Frank Miller (politician)
Frank Stuart Miller, was a Canadian politician, who served as the 19th Premier of Ontario for four months in 1985.-Early life and political career:...
, who had by this time succeeded Davis as premier and was continuing his funding policy, described the comment as "odious" and "totally unfounded."
Many believe this controversy caused significant damage for the Progressive Conservatives in the 1985 election, costing them support among their historically strong constituency of Anglican voters. David Rotenberg
David Rotenberg
David Rotenberg is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1977 to 1985 as a member of the Progressive Conservative Party, and was briefly a cabinet minister in the government of Frank Miller.Rotenberg was born in Toronto, and educated at the...
, a cabinet minister defeated in his bid for re-election, remarked, "I think [Garnsworthy] would probably get the Ian Paisley
Ian Paisley
Ian Richard Kyle Paisley, Baron Bannside, PC is a politician and church minister in Northern Ireland. As the leader of the Democratic Unionist Party , he and Sinn Féin's Martin McGuinness were elected First Minister and deputy First Minister respectively on 8 May 2007.In addition to co-founding...
award of the year because his speech certainly made it respectable to be anti-Catholic." The Progressive Conservatives actually won the election by a narrow margin and formed a minority government
Minority government
A minority government or a minority cabinet is a cabinet of a parliamentary system formed when a political party or coalition of parties does not have a majority of overall seats in the parliament but is sworn into government to break a Hung Parliament election result. It is also known as a...
afterwards, but lost power two months later after being defeated in the legislature.
The new government of Liberal
Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...
premier David Peterson
David Peterson
David Robert Peterson, PC, O.Ont was the 20th Premier of the Province of Ontario, Canada, from June 26, 1985 to October 1, 1990. He was the first Liberal premier of Ontario in 42 years....
continued Davis and Miller's support for full Catholic school funding, and Garnsworthy continued his battle against the legislation. In 1986, Garnsworthy argued that teachers applying for positions in the Catholic system should not be required to have a letter of recommendation from a priest; his position was that this requirement prevented non-Catholics from seeking a publicly funded office. Despite his efforts, full funding was extended to Catholic schools by the Peterson government.
Other views
Garnsworthy defended Ontario's Sunday shopping
Sunday shopping
Sunday shopping refers to the ability of retailers to operate stores on Sunday, a day that Christian tradition typically recognizes as the Sabbath, a "day of rest". Rules governing shopping hours, such as Sunday shopping, vary around the world but some European nations continue to ban Sunday shopping...
laws in 1986 and argued that store owners who violated the laws were exploiting their non-unionized employees. In 1987, he spoke against a proposal to re-institute the death penalty in Canada. Garnsworthy spoke in support of AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
victims in 1987, saying that they have a right to pastoral care within the church community and expressing concern at "fear and ignorance abroad about AIDS."
Final years
Garnsworthy did not seek re-election to his provincial office in 1985. He retired as Bishop of Toronto in 1989; in his last address, he called on the various churches of Toronto to work together and take a greater role in combatting social ills.Michael McAteer, "'Co-operate,' retiring prelate tells faiths," Toronto Star, 17 September 1988, A6.Garnsworthy underwent surgery to remove a cancerous lung in July 1983. He died in January 1990. The Lewis Garnsworthy Residence on Toronto's Dufferin Street is named in his honour.