The Winnipeg Statement is the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops' statement on the papal encyclical Humanae vitae from a plenary assembly held at Saint Boniface in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Published on September 27, 1968, it is the Canadian bishops' document about rejecting Pope Paul VI's July 1968 encyclical on human life and the regulation of birth.[1]
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 "a certain number of 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". TheseWith 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."[2]
Paragraph 26 stated:
In its conclusion, the document referred to the moment of the publication of the encyclical as an "hour of crisis", but added:
Although many episcopal conferences 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.
Some see the statement as an honest pastoral attempt to maintain unity of the Church in Canada. As Bishop Alexander Carter (then President of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops) explained,
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."[3]
Some have claimed that the statement was accepted "with satisfaction" by Pope Paul VI.[3] Although this allegation is strongly disputed,[4] it is worth noting that the Holy See has not published an official condemnation of the Winnipeg Statement, per se.
The statement was met with immediate and vocal opposition, which found root especially among conservative practicing Catholic anti-abortion activists. The objections of opponents to the statement are perhaps best summarized in the writings of 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".[5]
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 "discover or rediscover" its message. Critics of the Winnipeg Statement saw the new document as counterbalancing what it called the "heretical" earlier statement.[6]
Also in 2008, Canadian bishops unanimously stated that they were opposed to the appointment of the abortion provider and pro-choice advocate Henry Morgentaler to the Order of Canada, directly quoting from the Compendium of Social Doctrine.[7] Moreover, the bishops generally advocate pro-life views through the Catholic Organization for Life and Family, the official episcopal agency dedicated to life issues.