Dear Parish Family,

As some of you may not be aware, the trustees of the Ottawa Catholic School Board have recently made a proposal and voted in favour of flying the Pride Flag during the month of June. Archbishop Marcel gave a presentation urging the board to vote against such a proposal. He mentioned this Pride flag will cause more divisiveness, rather than inclusivity (Full statement here). Despite the Archbishop's presentation, the board trustees voted 9-1 in favour of flying the Pride Flag (OCSB press release). The Archbishop is discerning the next steps on how to further address this situation. Let us keep him in our prayers.

While the proposal may have been well intentioned, as Archbishop Marcel mentioned, Fr. Marcus and I believe that the values of tolerance, anti-bullying, and anti-hate are already displayed in flying the Canadian flag, and by the Crucifix in each classroom as well.

We are greatly discouraged by the vote. We also want to be on record as fully supporting the Archbishop's statement. We believe in everything that the Catholic Church officially teaches regarding matters of human sexuality, marriage, and chastity as the true path to life, freedom and happiness.

Let us pray with extra devotion during the month of June to the Sacred Heart of Jesus to help us navigate this politically intense situation with love and understanding and for our shepherds, the Bishops of Ontario. 

For those considering an alternative to the public Catholic school system, we have private Catholic Schools within our Archdiocese for your consideration, as well as viable homeschooling options.

Publicly funded Catholic schools need our prayers. While we are grateful for the many faithful men and women serving withing the OCSB, we need more courageous men and women to rise to the occasion in upholding our Catholic Faith and values within our Catholic school system. As seen in this scenario, trustees have great influence, as do principals, teachers and staff. We need them to be the 'light of the world, salt of the earth, a city built on a hill'.  

Below you will find a link to the Archbishop's latest message along with an additional resource for further study and reflection.

In Christ,

Fr. Tim and Fr. Marcus.