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	Lahey: "Do the Right Thing" By Michael Lightstone The Chronicle-Herald October 1, 2009 http://thechronicleherald.ca/News/1145407.html Bishop Raymond Lahey, who resigned last weekend in the midst of a sexual abuse settlement in his Antigonish diocese, wrote local parishioners three years ago on such contentious issues as sex education and same-sex marriage. "It is not often that we get a second chance to do the right thing," he said in a letter to diocesan parishioners. He was talking about Parliament revisiting the matter of what constitutes marriage. "The people of Canada will . . . have their second chance to do the right thing, by expressing again their conviction that, by definition, marriage is the union between husband and wife." He appealed to people to contact their members of Parliament about their affirmation of the church’s view of marriage. "Today, we have so many problems with our social structures," Bishop Lahey wrote in his letter, "that the second chance to correct one of them by reaffirming the specific nature of marriage is a wonderful opportunity for us." His name, at the bottom of the correspondence, was preceded by a short sign-off: "May God bless you all." Bishop Lahey was charged last Friday with possession of child pornography stemming from a search of his computer when he arrived at the Ottawa airport on Sept. 15. He isn’t in custody. In a note to parents in 2004, Bishop Lahey and two other senior Catholic church clerics wrote of a guide the provincial government released that year that dealt with sex and sexuality. He and his colleagues took the opportunity "to remind parents of their right and privilege to be the primary educators of their children. This right flows from the great distinction of parents being co-creators with God and from the obligation they accepted, when their children were baptized, of being ‘the first teachers of your child in the ways of faith.’ " The clerics’ sex education letter tells parents that several school boards rejected the provincial guide for students because of the nature of some of its content. But most boards adopted the guide, which is written in plain English and tells students about such things as relationships, preventing pregnancy, sexual assault and talking to their parents about sex. The guide, called Sex? A Healthy Sexuality Resource, is distributed to junior and senior high school students. Sex education, the clerics’ letter said, is not something all parents are comfortable discussing with their kids. "We believe schools are meant to complement and strengthen what parents are teaching, but never to undermine or contradict the moral values which parents present to their children," the letter said. "If such is the case, then parents have the right and duty to protect their children from these detrimental influences." Contact: mlightstone@herald.ca
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