Church steps up to host pro-life conference
MONTREAL, QC—Less than 24 hours before the start of the first fully bilingual, national pro-life conference since the 1980s, St. Joseph's Oratory informed organizers that the site was no longer available for the event.
"Life and Family: Source of Hope," hosted by Campagne Quebec Vie (CQV) and sponsored by LifeCanada and Campaign Life Coalition, was set to run November 17-19, featuring topics including abortion, euthanasia, palliative care and stem-cell research (among others).
Speakers included Archbishop Adam Exner, Rabbi Reuven Bulka of Ottawa, Evangelical Fellowship of Canada president Bruce Clemenger, former Montreal Gazette editor Peter Stockland and Stockwell Day as well as other MPs and pro-life advocates.
But organizers were left scrambling when Oratory officials made the decision to pull out the night before the conference was to begin.
"We have received information that leads us to believe there will be some protests [against the pro-life conference] that will bring risk from which we will not be able to protect pilgrims on the site," Danielle Deselles, the Oratory's assistant communications director, told ChristianWeek November 16.
Aside from conference facilities and a sanctuary that hosts some of Montreal's leading religious musical events, the Oratory attracts hundreds of thousands of pilgrims each year. Many walk through the stations of the cross in the gardens surrounding the building or use the hundreds of steps leading up to the main sanctuary as a prayer walk.
"It would have been one thing if the Oratory had refused to host us when we first contacted them, or changed their minds six months ago when the threats of protests began to surface," Thomas Senior, one of the key conference organizers, told CBC Radio. "But we don't understand the reason for the sudden last minute change of heart."
He said organizers were in contact with police who did not feel threats were increasing. But it was enough for Oratory caretakers.
"Unlike hotels or other sites with more restricted access, our facilities are wide open and have more than 20 different possible means of approach. This makes it virtually impossible to effectively deal with large crowds of protesters," said Deselles.
"This is the first time we have ever cancelled an event," Oratory director Father Claude Groulx told CBC Radio.
Conference organizers say they plan to discuss the possibility of legal action against the Oratory to recover some of the costs incurred because of the last-minute cancellation.
The conference relocated to Église La Bible Parle, an independent evangelical church in Cartierville, a northern burrough of the Island of Montreal. Buses ferried participants from hotels near the Oratory to the new venue.
Thomas Senior, one of the key conference organizers, told CBC Radio he feared "the move away from an easily accessible and recognizable venue like
However, the fears proved unfounded—almost 400 people attended the conference at La Bible Parle.
"It was very successful, more than I could have expected," CQV president Luc Gagnon told LifeSite News. "I was thinking we'd have half the participants. Instead we had double."
La Bible Parle senior pastor Jeff Laurin told LifeSite that the church was not afraid to host the conference, even though threatening graffiti was sprayed on the church's front steps prior to the event.
Escorted by police, protesters marched along one of the main thoroughfares near the Oratory on November 16 and on the final day of the conference about 40 showed up at the church. They shouted slogans and one person spray painted a church window. Police arrested him after a 20-minute scuffle involving other demonstrators.
The next national pro-life conference takes place in Vancouver in November 2006.
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