GOD'S HAND IN MONTREAL
National Conference NOT "Aborted", Succeeds by the Grace of God.

By Peter Ryan
Executive Director, NB Right to Life; Past President, LifeCanada
 

     Two years ago I personally initiated a plan for the 2005 national pro-life conference to be held in Quebec. This was a missionary thrust: Quebec is the most anti-life province - highest abortion rate, weakest pro-life movement, etc. The conference was organized for the St. Joseph's Oratory (famous Catholic shrine) in Montreal last week. LifeCanada and Campaign Life Coalition co-sponsored it.

     As you may have heard on the news, an ad hoc "pro-choice" movement called "Abort Their Conference" tried to shut it down through demonstrations. Tragically, the day before the conference (& demonstrations) the Oratory cancelled it - threw us out! - due to security concerns. It seemed like the anti-life crowd had won!

     We organizers were in full panic mode. We had appealed for a special campaign of prayer surrounding this particular conference; now I felt myself crying out, "Lord, are you really going to let this whole thing fall apart?"

     Well, guess what? HE SURE DIDN'T! Within hours we found another location: a Protestant church that proved an excellent facility. The conference was better attended (400) than we had expected. The speakers were outstanding. The anti-life crowd showed up but looked ridiculous _like hooligans, bullies.

     The media coverage was very good for our cause. Minus the demonstrations, the media would have ignored us. This way we got extensive coverage and it was mainly positive: the other side looked bad, we looked like victims and therefore aroused much public sympathy.

     To give you a snapshot of how God brings good out of apparent evil: I visited my father and mother-in-law north of Montreal. They commented how they had seen the TV coverage. My father-in-law stated: "You know, abortion is murder! It should be against the law." In the 30 years I have known him - most of which I have been involved in pro-life - he has never said anything to me about abortion! But now, seeing the TV coverage made the issue come alive. For how many other Quebecers was it the same? This is exactly what we were praying would happen through this conference!!!

     The God of Life was very much there for us, praised be his holy name. It was yet another illustration of the maxim: "If God has brought you to it, he'll bring you through it."

     Prior to the Conference I sent out an appeal for prayer for this conference. I would like to recapitulate those specific prayers while indicating how I think they were answered:

- that the Conference will not be shut down! It sure came close to being aborted! It was relocated - but not shut down for sure!

- that the Conference will be well attended by pro-life people It truly was! Just a few days before it looked like a disaster - maybe 200-250 which is not much for a national conference in a large city. But we ended up with close to 400! Some people did cancel their trips - but they were more than replaced! I spoke with a family with young children who walked in and said, "We just heard about it in the news. We want to be here!"

- for all those speaking at the Conference Some of those attending said it was the best conference they had been to, the speakers were so great. It was a well-rounded roster of francophone and anglophones speaking - quite a feat in itself to have such an all-Canadian flavour.

- for the safety of all those attending To our knowledge no harm came to anyone, thanks be to God! On Saturday one of my friends operated undercover at the anti-life crowd's gathering near the Oratory: he was able to alert police that some of the crowd was coming over to the church where our conference was. We were therefore well protected at the site.

- that God will bring good out of this situation I hope you are convinced from the account above that much good did come out of this situation - in ways we could not have planned or predicted. Everyone I spoke with among the attendees was in fact energized by the whole sequence of events. Our pro-life faith has been renewed!

- that the demonstrators will be thwarted in their anti-life designs I would say they were very much thwarted. They did not succeed in aborting the conference. Their numbers were not impressive: only 40-50 came to the church location where our conference took place. I think they only looked foolish in the media, and succeeded only in making the media and public feel sorry for us, the victims of all the bullying.

- for pro-life leaders speaking to the media about the controversy Leaders (Luc Gagnon, Jim Hughes, Joanne Byfield) were kept extremely busy speaking with the media. They felt treated with respect, fairness and even sympathy - often not the case in our media experience as pro-lifers. Initital coverage tended to desribe us as "anti-abortionists", not our favorite label; but gradually the label shifted to "pro-lifers" - that in itself a public relations victory!

- that religious leaders who may comment about the controversy will be faithful to the cause of life (and not imply that pro-lifers are to blame for stirring up trouble!) I would say we were spared anything truly harmful of this nature. There was, however, one statement that was troubling _ by a priest who defended the Oratory's decision, saying, "The Oratory is a place of prayer and reflection, not confrontation." I suspect he may live to regret those words. The only confrontation was from the anti-life crowd, not pro-lifers. As a result of the Oratory's decision, a great deal of prayer and reflection were in fact prevented. The Oratory seemed to cave in to fear, based on the police's statement that they could not absolutely guarantee there would be no incidents of security breach. Even in ordinary daily life there are no absolute guarantees bad things will not happen; we would not even go outdoors if we had to have such guarantees! Real life - especially a life of faith - takes some courage, and there is always an element of risk. In my opinion, the Oratory officials - supposed to be dedicated to the Christian faith - failed the test. What would they do if demonstrators were to show up every week - shut the place down every time? The pastor of the church that welcomed us showed an exemplary spirit of faith and courage; that church ran a certain risk in holding the conference, but they did not waver in the face of hostility; they acted prudently (hired their own security etc) but they did not panic!

     Dear friends, would you please join me in thanking God for his loving hand through these events. Let us pray also that much good - pro-life ferment - will continue to come out of them, and especially that a pro-life culture will grow in Quebec where it is so greatly needed.