Andrew Scheer, newly elected leader of the Conservative Party of Canada (Getty images)
Scheer describes himself as pro-life and says he will allow backbench MPs to bring forward legislation on the issue
Andrew Scheer narrowly won the leadership with 51 per cent of the vote on the final ballot, defeating Maxime Bernier.
Earlier this month, he sent a message the Canadian March for Life, saying: “As someone who is pro-life, I thank each and every one of you for being here today at the seat of our government to make your views known.
“Where Justin Trudeau believes that in order to stand as a Liberal candidate you must be pro-choice, I am proud to be running for leader of the Conservative Party to become a prime minister under whom all conservatives would be welcome in my caucus.”
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Allen observed (near the end of a column mostly devoted to Cardinal Gualtiero Bassetti) that during his May 27 visit to Genoa, the Pontiff would be hosted by Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, the outgoing president of the Italian episcopal conference, who was regarded as a close ally of Pope Benedict XVI. Allen reasoned that if the Pope “appears gracious and respectful, finding occasions to voice appreciation for Bagnasco’s contributions, then the take-away may be that Francis is not so much trying to reverse what came before but to round it out.” Whereas if the Pope ignored the cardinal, that “may accent the impression in some quarters that Francis is trying to ‘roll back’ the legacy of his predecessors.”
So what happened?
Here, the Vatican summaries provided by the Vatican press office, are the complimentary things the Pope said about Cardinal Bagnasco during his day in Genoa:
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[crickets]
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It wasn’t for lack of an opportunity. When Pope Francis visited the Ilva factory, a manager asked him a question, mentioning that “we are encouraged by our archbishop Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco,” and asking the Pontiff for “a word of closeness.” The Holy Father gave a 1,200-word reply. Not one of those words was “Bagnasco.”
If Allen’s test was valid, the results were crystal clear.
Phil Lawler has been a Catholic journalist for more than 30 years. He has edited several Catholic magazines and written eight books. Founder of Catholic World News, he is the news director and lead analyst at CatholicCulture.org. See full bio.