Barring peace activist and former Iraq hostage James Loney from speaking at a Roman Catholic social justice conference in Winnipeg this weekend has hurt and outraged some Catholics, who say they expected better from their Archbishop, James Weisgerber.
"I thought, 'how can I speak at a conference on social justice when it is committing such an unjust action?' -- and it is unjust to me," said Nerina Robson. She and her husband John Robson -- one of the organizers of the two-day event that starts Saturday morning -- have dropped out of the conference.
Loney, a Catholic who is openly gay and has challenged the church's stance on homosexuality, made international headlines in 2005 when he, fellow Canadian Harmeet Sooden, Briton Norm Kember and American Tom Fox were snatched off the streets of Baghdad.
Fox was later shot dead, while the three remaining captives, all of them members of the Christian Peacemaker Teams, were held for four months before they were rescued by a team of British commandos.
Loney returned to Canada and his partner Dan Hunt, making headlines all over again. Their relationship was kept quiet while Loney was in captivity because it was feared the homophobic fundamentalist insurgents holding them would have killed Loney had they known his sexual orientation.
Loney forgave his captors and has been sought after by social justice groups to speak on faith, forgiveness and reconciliation.
Two weeks ago, he was notified that the office of the Archbishop of Winnipeg was uninviting him to speak at this weekend's conference because Loney has spoke against the church's stance on homosexuality.
When right-wing Catholics like Maria Slykerman, the head of the Campaign Life Coalition, heard that Loney was coming to Winnipeg to speak at a Catholic conference, they urged parishioners to lobby Weisgerber to prevent "the unrepentant, active homosexual" from speaking. The coalition's affiliate Internet publication LifeSite also called on the Archbishop to nix NDP MP Bill Blaikie -- an ordained United Church minister -- from the lineup.
The group said Blaikie's party supports unrestricted access to abortion and he voted with his party against the traditional definition of marriage. Blaikie has not been barred from the conference. He did not return calls this afternoon.
After landing in Winnipeg late this morning, Loney responded to the Archbishop's decision the same way he responded to his Iraqi captors.
He forgave.
"I respect the archbishop," said Loney, who spoke with Weisgerber by phone earlier. "He strikes me as a very good man. But I disagree with his decision. It was a mistake. I invite him to change his mind."
The archbishop declined to comment.
Loney was to speak at Menno Simons College this afternoon and publicly at St. Augustine United Church in Osborne Village on Sunday at 1:30 p.m.
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