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 early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal Legal sex and gender, sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 ...

and

prostitution Prostitution is a type of sex work that involves engaging in 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, no ...

, where it has argued from a

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

standpoint, in line with

Catholic social teaching Catholic social teaching (CST) is an area of Catholic doctrine which is concerned with human dignity and the common good in society. It addresses oppression, the role of the state, subsidiarity, social organization, social justice, and w ...

. 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 co ...

(CBSC) and

Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC; ) is a public organization in Canada tasked with the mandate as a regulatory agency tribunal for various electronic communications, covering broadcasting and telecommunic ...

(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 British television channel Channel 4. It aired over three seri ...

'', the film ''

Dogma Dogma, in its broadest sense, is any belief held definitively and without the possibility of reform. It may be in the form of an official system of principles or doctrines of a religion, such as Judaism, Roman Catholicism, Protestantism, or 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 Bel ...

''.

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 (, , or, as prescribed by the Quebec Board of the French Language, ). Sometimes referred to ...

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 LGBTQ rights in Canada