A fruitful discussion at the Dialogue for Diversity session on the anticipated changes in the Catholic Church

Thank you to everyone who came out to the Dialogue for Diversity session on the anticipated changes in the Catholic Church.

We had a great presentation by Mr.McBane followed by a fruitful round table discussion.

Mr. McBane provided an optimistic perspective on the election of Pope Francis. He hopes that the leadership and character of the new Pope will be symbolized and reflected by his choice to name himself after St Francis of Assisi from the 13th Century who rejected a life of luxury to work with the poor. Mr. McBane highlighted the early signs of  Pope Francis’ commitment to the poor.

The presentation was followed by questions and contrasting perspectives around the table which made the discussion lively and educational. Stay tuned for the next Dialogue for Democracy session!

Michael McBane is the national coordinator (since 1995) of the Canadian Health Coalition in Ottawa. He has 30 years experience working in coalitions on issues relating to Medicare, privatization, commercialization, public health regulation, food and drug safety, the Precautionary Principle, international trade and economic justice. Author of Ill-Health Canada: Putting Food and Drug Company Profits Ahead of Safety, published by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives in 2005. He studied political science and theology in Ottawa and at l’Institut Catholique de Paris. He was senior researcher from 1982 to 1990 on issues of economic justice with the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops. He was the National Coordinator of the Action Canada Network from 1990 to 1993 where he campaigned to expose the threats to society, democracy and the environment posed by the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

Started five years ago as an initiative of Dr. Qais Ghanem, Dialogue for Democracy has had monthly participatory discussions with guest speakers on subjects that concern and affect Canadians. Previous discussion have included: proportional representation, mandatory voting,  the prorogue of parliament by Mr. Harper, consumerism in Canada, the economy , post-traumatic stress disorder in Canadian troops returning from Afghanistan, hijab,  women’s rights, the conflict in Sudan, The Arab Spring, Palestine, and etc.