The Catholic Civil Rights League is a Canadian lay Catholic organization which makes statements in the media about Catholicism and which lobbies the government and takes part in court cases to advocate policies in line with its interpretation of Catholic teachings. The CCRL has played a prominent role in Canadian social debates surrounding

abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pregn ...

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same Legal sex and gender, sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being ...

and

prostitution Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in Sex work, sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, n ...

, where it has argued from a

social conservative Social conservatism is a political philosophy and variety of conservatism which places emphasis on traditional power structures over social pluralism. Social conservatives organize in favor of duty, traditional values and social institution ...

standpoint, in line with

Catholic social teaching Catholic social teaching, commonly abbreviated CST, is an area of Catholic doctrine concerning matters of human dignity and the common good in society. The ideas address oppression, the role of the state (polity), state, subsidiarity, social o ...

. The organization works closely with other Catholic organizations on social issues that matter for the Church. The group was formed in 1985 to counter anti-Catholic sentiment, which had increased when the Ontario provincial government had extended funding to Catholic secondary schools.

Media

The League opposes what it views as anti-Catholicism and anti-religion in the media. It responds to criticism of Catholic teaching in the media and to comedy programs about Catholic characters which it views as blasphemous, sometimes filing complaints with the

Canadian Broadcast Standards Council The Canadian Broadcast Standards Council (CBSC) is an industry funded self-regulating organization created by the Canadian Association of Broadcasters to administer standards established by its own members, Canada's private broadcasters. The coun ...

(CBSC) and

Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC; french: Conseil de la radiodiffusion et des télécommunications canadiennes, links=) is a public organization in Canada with mandate as a regulatory agency for broadcasti ...

(CRTC). It has opposed media such as the television show ''

Father Ted ''Father Ted'' is a sitcom created by Irish writers Graham Linehan and Arthur Mathews (writer), Arthur Mathews and produced by British production company Hat Trick Productions for Channel 4. It aired over three series from 21 April 1995 until ...

'', the film ''

Dogma Dogma is a belief or set of beliefs that is accepted by the members of a group without being questioned or doubted. It may be in the form of an official system of principles or doctrines of a religion, such as Roman Catholicism, Judaism, Islam ...

'', and the book ''

The Golden Compass ''Northern Lights'' (titled ''The Golden Compass'' in North America and some other countries) is a young-adult fantasy novel by Philip Pullman, published in 1995 by Scholastic UK. Set in a parallel universe, it follows the journey of Lyra Be ...

''.

Court and tribunal cases

CCRL has been involved in a number of cases which relate to its interpretation of Catholicism, opposing

in several cases in the late 90s and early 2000s, calling for the

notwithstanding clause Section 33 of the ''Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms'' is part of the Constitution of Canada. It is commonly known as the notwithstanding clause (french: clause dérogatoire, links=no or ), sometimes referred to as the override power, and ...

to be used to overrule court decision in favour of same-sex marriage.Some of what was said Tuesday in reaction to a decision by the Ontario Appeal Court allowing same-sex couples to marry Canadian Press NewsWire; Toronto oronto10 June 2003: n/a. It opposed the Ontario court's decision in the "three-parent case" which determined that a child's second custodial parent could become his legal parent without a non-custodial biological parent surrendering parental status. It has also taken a socially conservative position in a case challenging Canada's restrictions on prostitution, and advocated for policies protecting discrimination and hate speech against LGBT people, and displays of graphic anti-abortion posters where not permitted, as an expression of religious belief.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Anti-abortion organizations in Canada Christian political organizations Conservatism in Canada Christian organizations based in Canada Catholic Church in Canada Catholic lay organisations Organizations that oppose LGBT rights in Canada