Courageous Solidarity or Contradicting Catholic Moral Teaching: The Canadian Catholic Church and The Polarizing World March of Women 2000

In the year 2000, the World March of Women (WMW 2000) organized a series of international events to condemn poverty and violence against women.  Development and Peace – Caritas Canada (the official international development organization of the Canadian Catholic Church) financially supported the March and encouraged Catholics to participate as a sign of “courageous solidarity” with women around the world.  WMW 2000 became controversial as some of the other groups that also supported the March called for greater access to abortion, which contradicted established Catholic moral teaching.  Pro-life organizations in Canada called for a boycott of the March and for the Canadian Bishops to withdraw their support from Development and Peace.  As bishops lined up on both sides of the issue, WMW 2000 became one of the most divisive debates in Canadian Catholic history.  This paper explores why this event was so polarizing and explains its impact on contemporary Canadian Catholicism.