Winnipeg Statement
Encyclopedia
The Winnipeg Statement is the Canadian Bishops
' Statement on the Encyclical Humanae Vitae
from a Plenary Assembly
held at Saint Boniface
in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Published on September 27, 1968, it is the Canadian Bishop's controversial document about Pope Paul VI
's July 1968 encyclical on human life and the regulation of birth.
, accompanying the Canadian bishops to the Second Vatican Council
, Gregory Baum
was a prominent dissident on the subject and at the third session of Vatican II Cardinal Leger of Montreal advocated that the duty to bearing children should be a duty pertaining to the state of matrimony as a whole rather than to an individual act, saying that "Confessors are assailed by doubts. They no longer know what to answer."
It recognized that many Catholics, in spite of being bound by the encyclical, find it "either extremely difficult or even impossible to make their own all elements of this doctrine". These "should not be considered, or consider themselves, shut off from the body of the faithful. But they should remember that their good faith will be dependent on a sincere self-examination to determine the true motives and grounds for such suspension of assent and on continued effort to understand and deepen their knowledge of the teaching of the Church." With regard to those in that situation, "the confessor or counsellor must show sympathetic understanding and reverence for the sincere good faith of those who fail in their effort to accept some point of the encyclical."
Paragraph 26 stated: "In accord with the accepted principles of moral theology, if these persons have tried sincerely but without success to pursue a line of conduct in keeping with the given directives, they may be safely assured that, whoever honestly chooses that course which seems right to him does so in good conscience." (Emphasis added.)
In its conclusion, the document referred to the moment of the publication of the encyclical as an "hour of crisis", but added: "The unity of the Church does not consist in a bland conformity in all ideas, but rather in a union of faith and heart, in submission to God's will and a humble but honest and ongoing search for the truth." It stated: "We stand in union with the Bishop of Rome the successor of Peter, the sign and contributing cause of our unity with Christ and with one another. But this very union postulates such a love of the Church that we can do no less than to place all of our love and all of our intelligence at its service. If this sometimes means that in our desire to make the Church more intelligible and more beautiful we must, as pilgrims do, falter in the way or differ as to the way, no one should conclude that our common faith is lost or our loving purpose blunted."
s published statements regarding Humanae Vitae, it is the Canadian Bishops' statement which has been the subject of the most controversy, as has been widely interpreted as a loophole whereby Catholics may feel permitted to use birth control
. Central to the debate is the role and importance of personal religious freedom of conscience
.
attempt to maintain unity in the Canadian Church. As Bishop Alexander Carter (then President of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops) explained, "We faced the necessity of making a statement which many felt could not be a simple 'Amen
,' a total and formal endorsement of the doctrine of the encyclical — we had to reckon with the fact of widespread dissent from some points of his teaching among the Catholic faithful, priests, theologians, and probably some of our own number."
Supporters contend that the Canadian Bishops were merely trying to defend those who had not matured sufficiently in their faith, and that they were simply upholding the established doctrine expressed in Dignitatis Humanae
, the Vatican II
Declaration on Religious Freedom. They argue that it was this document which compelled the bishops "to support the need for personal freedom when dealing with the Church's rejection of artificial contraception... [and to insist] that married couples could only form their consciences in an atmosphere free of coercion."
Some have claimed that the statement was accepted "with satisfaction" by Pope Paul VI. Although this allegation is strongly disputed, it is worth noting that the Holy See
has not published an official condemnation of the Winnipeg Statement, per se.
practicing Catholic pro-life
activists
. The objections of opponents to the statement are perhaps best summarized in the writings of Msgr. Vincent Foy
, who contends, among other things, that the Winnipeg Statement:
Foy further alleges that Cardinal Gerald Emmett Carter, one of the authors, partially repudiated the wording of the most controversial paragraph of the statement, writing in a private letter that "I am not prepared to defend paragraph 26 totally. In a sense, the phraseology was misleading and could give the impression that the bishops were saying that one was free to dissent at will from the Pope's teaching".
Some critics worry that the Canadian Bishops have cut themselves off from Rome by rejecting an official teaching of the Catholic Church and, they feel, advancing the idea of a separate National Church — suggesting that they may have formed "a new non-Catholic church the day they signed this Winnipeg Statement."
In 1998, the Canadian Bishops voted by secret ballot on a resolution to retract the Winnipeg Statement. It did not pass.
Calls for retraction continue, though some see the Canadian Bishops' December 1, 1973 document, Statement on the Formation of Conscience, as evidence that they were trying to distance themselves from the Winnipeg Statement.
In 2008, the Canadian Bishops issued a pastoral letter titled "Liberating Potential" that was unquestioned as being in full conformity with Humanae Vitae, and invited all to "to discover or rediscover" its message. Critics of the Winnipeg Statement saw the new document as counterbalancing what it called the "heretical" earlier statement.
Also in 2008, Canadian bishops unanimously stated that they were opposed to the attribution of the Order of Canada
to abortion provider and pro-choice
advocate Henry Morgentaler
, directly quoting from the Compendium of Social Doctrine, an action that those who believed they had expressed opposition to Humanae Vitae saw as distancing themselves from that opposition. Cardinal Jean-Claude Turcotte later announced that he was returning his award of the same Order over the affair. Moreover, the bishops generally advocate pro-life views through the Catholic Organization for Life and Family
, the official episcopal agency dedicated to life issues.
Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops
The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops is the national assembly of the Bishops of the Catholic Church in Canada. It was founded in 1943 and was officially recognized by the Holy See in 1948. Since the Second Vatican Council, it became part of a worldwide network of Episcopal Conferences,...
' Statement on the Encyclical Humanae Vitae
Humanae Vitae
Humanae Vitae is an encyclical written by Pope Paul VI and issued on 25 July 1968. Subtitled On the Regulation of Birth, it re-affirms the traditional teaching of the Catholic Church regarding married love, responsible parenthood, and the continuing proscription of most forms of birth...
from a Plenary Assembly
Plenary session
Plenary session is a term often used in conferences to define the part of the conference when all members of all parties are to attend.These sessions may contain a broad range of content from keynotes to panel discussions and are not necessarily related to a specific style of delivery.The term has...
held at Saint Boniface
Saint Boniface, Manitoba
Saint Boniface is a city ward of Winnipeg, home to much of the Franco-Manitoban community. It features such landmarks as the Cathédrale de Saint Boniface , Boulevard Provencher, the Provencher Bridge, Esplanade Riel, St. Boniface Hospital, the Collège universitaire de Saint-Boniface and the Royal...
in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Published on September 27, 1968, it is the Canadian Bishop's controversial document about Pope Paul VI
Pope Paul VI
Paul VI , born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding Pope John XXIII, who had convened the Second Vatican Council, he decided to continue it...
's July 1968 encyclical on human life and the regulation of birth.
Origins
Some bishops within the Catholic Church in Canada had already made moves to dissent from traditional Catholic teaching on contraception. An expert, or peritusPeritus
Peritus is the title given to Roman Catholic theologians who are present to give advice at an ecumenical council. At the most recent council, the Second Vatican Council, some periti accompanied individual bishops or groups of bishops from various countries...
, accompanying the Canadian bishops to the Second Vatican Council
Second Vatican Council
The Second Vatican Council addressed relations between the Roman Catholic Church and the modern world. It was the twenty-first Ecumenical Council of the Catholic Church and the second to be held at St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. It opened under Pope John XXIII on 11 October 1962 and closed...
, Gregory Baum
Gregory Baum
Gregory Baum, OC is a Canadian theologian.Born in Berlin, Germany, he came to Canada from England in 1940. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in mathematics and physics in 1946 from McMaster University, a Master of Arts degree in mathematics in 1947 from Ohio State University, and a Th.D...
was a prominent dissident on the subject and at the third session of Vatican II Cardinal Leger of Montreal advocated that the duty to bearing children should be a duty pertaining to the state of matrimony as a whole rather than to an individual act, saying that "Confessors are assailed by doubts. They no longer know what to answer."
Summary
Published two months after Humanae Vitae, the Winnipeg Statement was an attempt by the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops to address widespread concern within the Church about the prohibition of all forms of artificial contraception, and to counsel its members on how to respond to those who have difficulty accepting the directives.It recognized that many Catholics, in spite of being bound by the encyclical, find it "either extremely difficult or even impossible to make their own all elements of this doctrine". These "should not be considered, or consider themselves, shut off from the body of the faithful. But they should remember that their good faith will be dependent on a sincere self-examination to determine the true motives and grounds for such suspension of assent and on continued effort to understand and deepen their knowledge of the teaching of the Church." With regard to those in that situation, "the confessor or counsellor must show sympathetic understanding and reverence for the sincere good faith of those who fail in their effort to accept some point of the encyclical."
Paragraph 26 stated: "In accord with the accepted principles of moral theology, if these persons have tried sincerely but without success to pursue a line of conduct in keeping with the given directives, they may be safely assured that, whoever honestly chooses that course which seems right to him does so in good conscience." (Emphasis added.)
In its conclusion, the document referred to the moment of the publication of the encyclical as an "hour of crisis", but added: "The unity of the Church does not consist in a bland conformity in all ideas, but rather in a union of faith and heart, in submission to God's will and a humble but honest and ongoing search for the truth." It stated: "We stand in union with the Bishop of Rome the successor of Peter, the sign and contributing cause of our unity with Christ and with one another. But this very union postulates such a love of the Church that we can do no less than to place all of our love and all of our intelligence at its service. If this sometimes means that in our desire to make the Church more intelligible and more beautiful we must, as pilgrims do, falter in the way or differ as to the way, no one should conclude that our common faith is lost or our loving purpose blunted."
Reception
Although many Episcopal ConferenceEpiscopal Conference
In the Roman Catholic Church, an Episcopal Conference, Conference of Bishops, or National Conference of Bishops is an official assembly of all the bishops of a given territory...
s published statements regarding Humanae Vitae, it is the Canadian Bishops' statement which has been the subject of the most controversy, as has been widely interpreted as a loophole whereby Catholics may feel permitted to use birth control
Birth control
Birth control is an umbrella term for several techniques and methods used to prevent fertilization or to interrupt pregnancy at various stages. Birth control techniques and methods include contraception , contragestion and abortion...
. Central to the debate is the role and importance of personal religious freedom of conscience
Conscience
Conscience is an aptitude, faculty, intuition or judgment of the intellect that distinguishes right from wrong. Moral judgement may derive from values or norms...
.
Support
Some see the statement as an honest pastoralPastoral care
Pastoral care is the ministry of care and counseling provided by pastors, chaplains and other religious leaders to members of their church or congregation, or to persons of all faiths and none within institutional settings. This can range anywhere from home visitation to formal counseling provided...
attempt to maintain unity in the Canadian Church. As Bishop Alexander Carter (then President of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops) explained, "We faced the necessity of making a statement which many felt could not be a simple 'Amen
Amen
The word amen is a declaration of affirmation found in the Hebrew Bible and New Testament. Its use in Judaism dates back to its earliest texts. It has been generally adopted in Christian worship as a concluding word for prayers and hymns. In Islam, it is the standard ending to Dua and the...
,' a total and formal endorsement of the doctrine of the encyclical — we had to reckon with the fact of widespread dissent from some points of his teaching among the Catholic faithful, priests, theologians, and probably some of our own number."
Supporters contend that the Canadian Bishops were merely trying to defend those who had not matured sufficiently in their faith, and that they were simply upholding the established doctrine expressed in Dignitatis Humanae
Dignitatis Humanae
Dignitatis Humanae is the Second Vatican Council's Declaration on Religious Freedom. In the context of the Council's stated intention “to develop the doctrine of recent popes on the inviolable rights of the human person and the constitutional order of society”, Dignitatis Humanae spells out the...
, the Vatican II
Second Vatican Council
The Second Vatican Council addressed relations between the Roman Catholic Church and the modern world. It was the twenty-first Ecumenical Council of the Catholic Church and the second to be held at St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. It opened under Pope John XXIII on 11 October 1962 and closed...
Declaration on Religious Freedom. They argue that it was this document which compelled the bishops "to support the need for personal freedom when dealing with the Church's rejection of artificial contraception... [and to insist] that married couples could only form their consciences in an atmosphere free of coercion."
Some have claimed that the statement was accepted "with satisfaction" by Pope Paul VI. Although this allegation is strongly disputed, it is worth noting that the Holy See
Holy See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...
has not published an official condemnation of the Winnipeg Statement, per se.
Opposition
The statement was met with immediate and vocal opposition, which found root especially among conservativeConservatism
Conservatism is a political and social philosophy that promotes the maintenance of traditional institutions and supports, at the most, minimal and gradual change in society. Some conservatives seek to preserve things as they are, emphasizing stability and continuity, while others oppose modernism...
practicing Catholic pro-life
Pro-life
Opposition to the legalization of abortion is centered around the pro-life, or anti-abortion, movement, a social and political movement opposing elective abortion on moral grounds and supporting its legal prohibition or restriction...
activists
Activism
Activism consists of intentional efforts to bring about social, political, economic, or environmental change. Activism can take a wide range of forms from writing letters to newspapers or politicians, political campaigning, economic activism such as boycotts or preferentially patronizing...
. The objections of opponents to the statement are perhaps best summarized in the writings of Msgr. Vincent Foy
Vincent Foy
Monsignor Vincent N. Foy is a Canadian Roman Catholic cleric and theologian.He is particularly prominent as a critic of artificial contraception and what he perceives as acceptance of it by the Catholic hierarchy .He is the former head of Toronto's archdiocesan marriage tribunal.-Bibliography:* ,...
, who contends, among other things, that the Winnipeg Statement:
- is tantamount to blasphemyBlasphemyBlasphemy is irreverence towards religious or holy persons or things. Some countries have laws to punish blasphemy, while others have laws to give recourse to those who are offended by blasphemy...
, has increased dissentDissentDissent is a sentiment or philosophy of non-agreement or opposition to a prevailing idea or an entity...
in the Church, and is an act of disobedience to the Holy See - has fostered support for homosexualityHomosexualityHomosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...
, the ordination of women, the "fundamental option", and abortionAbortionAbortion 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... - is a major factor in the crisis of vocations to the priestPriestA 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...
hood and religious lifeReligious orderA religious order is a lineage of communities and organizations of people who live in some way set apart from society in accordance with their specific religious devotion, usually characterized by the principles of its founder's religious practice. The order is composed of initiates and, in some... - has facilitated anti-life and immoral government legislationLegislationLegislation is law which has been promulgated by a legislature or other governing body, or the process of making it...
- has deprived spouses of married love, has pitted spouses against one another, has made faithful Catholic couples feel betrayed and unsupported, and has been the cause of many marital breakups
- permits extra-marital sexAdulteryAdultery is sexual infidelity to one's spouse, and is a form of extramarital sex. It originally referred only to sex between a woman who was married and a person other than her spouse. Even in cases of separation from one's spouse, an extramarital affair is still considered adultery.Adultery is...
, and has led to a lowered respect for womenWomen's rightsWomen's rights are entitlements and freedoms claimed for women and girls of all ages in many societies.In some places these rights are institutionalized or supported by law, local custom, and behaviour, whereas in others they may be ignored or suppressed... - has not only adversely affected married life in Canada but in many other countries
- has led to the killing of countless persons through abortifacientAbortifacientAn abortifacient is a substance that induces abortion. Abortifacients for animals that have mated undesirably are known as mismating shots....
pills and devices
Foy further alleges that Cardinal Gerald Emmett Carter, one of the authors, partially repudiated the wording of the most controversial paragraph of the statement, writing in a private letter that "I am not prepared to defend paragraph 26 totally. In a sense, the phraseology was misleading and could give the impression that the bishops were saying that one was free to dissent at will from the Pope's teaching".
Some critics worry that the Canadian Bishops have cut themselves off from Rome by rejecting an official teaching of the Catholic Church and, they feel, advancing the idea of a separate National Church — suggesting that they may have formed "a new non-Catholic church the day they signed this Winnipeg Statement."
Reiteration in 1969
In view of calls for the Canadian Bishops to officially retract the Winnipeg Statement, they issued a year later a statement in which they declared: "Nothing could be gained and much lost by an attempt to rephrase what we have said in Winnipeg. We stand squarely behind our position but we feel it is our duty to insist on a proper interpretation of that position." They added:In 1998, the Canadian Bishops voted by secret ballot on a resolution to retract the Winnipeg Statement. It did not pass.
Calls for retraction continue, though some see the Canadian Bishops' December 1, 1973 document, Statement on the Formation of Conscience, as evidence that they were trying to distance themselves from the Winnipeg Statement.
In 2008, the Canadian Bishops issued a pastoral letter titled "Liberating Potential" that was unquestioned as being in full conformity with Humanae Vitae, and invited all to "to discover or rediscover" its message. Critics of the Winnipeg Statement saw the new document as counterbalancing what it called the "heretical" earlier statement.
Also in 2008, Canadian bishops unanimously stated that they were opposed to the attribution of the Order of Canada
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...
to abortion provider and pro-choice
Pro-choice
Support for the legalization of abortion is centered around the pro-choice movement, a sociopolitical movement supporting the ethical view that a woman should have the legal right to elective abortion, meaning the right to terminate her pregnancy....
advocate Henry Morgentaler
Henry Morgentaler
Henry Morgentaler, CM is a Canadian physician and prominent pro-choice advocate who has fought numerous legal battles for that cause.-Early life:...
, directly quoting from the Compendium of Social Doctrine, an action that those who believed they had expressed opposition to Humanae Vitae saw as distancing themselves from that opposition. Cardinal Jean-Claude Turcotte later announced that he was returning his award of the same Order over the affair. Moreover, the bishops generally advocate pro-life views through the Catholic Organization for Life and Family
Catholic Organization for Life and Family
The Catholic Organization for Life and Family was co-founded by the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Supreme Council of the Knights of Columbus. Its "mission is to build a culture of life and a civilization of love by promoting respect for human life and dignity and the essential...
, the official episcopal agency dedicated to life issues.
External links
- Canadian Bishops' Statement on the Encyclical "Humanae Vitae" (the text of the Winnipeg Statement)
- Humanae Vitae: Encyclical of Pope Paul VI on the Regulation of Birth
Supporters
- Freedom and Responsibility, by Neil MacDonald
Opponents
- Fifty Reasons Why The Winnipeg Statement Should be Recalled, by Msgr. Vincent Foy
- Tragedy at Winnipeg (PDF), by Msgr. Vincent Foy
- The Rosarium of the Blessed Virgin Mary (website dedicated to retracting The Winnipeg Statement and exposing the consequences of contraception)
- Vehement denunciation of the Winnipeg Statement by Fr. John Corapi (video)