Georges Buscemi

By Georges Buscemi, president of Campagne Québec-Vie
(translated from the original French version)

Campagne Québec-Vie was founded in 1989, following two decisions of the Supreme Court of Canada, which invalidated in Canada all laws governing abortion. At that time, Campagne Québec-Vie was to be a non-denominational movement for the re-establishment of sound laws to protect unborn children.

What may seem paradoxical for a movement that was non-denominational is that our publications and activities have always been Christian and Catholic in spirit. In the pages of our quarterly newspaper Vitalité, and in our monthly newsletter, one would regularly read reports on Marian pilgrimages, quotes from catechisms, commentary on the addresses and encyclicals of popes, etc.

Several hypotheses could be put forward to explain this paradox of a supposedly “non-confessional” body whose publications were overflowing with references to Christ and His Church…

But beyond reasons of prudence, recruitment and personal reasons, there was, and there is only one decisive reason for the inclusion by Campagne Québec-Vie of Catholic Christian elements in our publications and in everything else we do: it is our initial conviction, almost unacknowledged, but inevitable, that in society, one cannot simultaneously respect man, defend him, and help him to flourish, unless one also respects His God.

This conviction which pervades Campagne Quebec-Vie, which animates it from the start, and which has gained more and more momentum in recent times, is largely opposed to the surrounding culture, which wants God and His commandments to be driven out of society. Our current culture sees God as a competitor or a handicap for man. Like a superstition that only darkens his mind and chains him to arbitrary and alienating dogmas.

At Campagne Québec-Vie, we see things differently. We believe first in the existence of a creator God. And we believe that respect for human life implies respect for the Author of human life. But there is more; we believe that Jesus Christ is God. So, if in society we want legislation that protects and respects life, then we must first want the type of society that makes legislation that respects and honours Christ. This is what we call the doctrine of the social reign of Christ the King.

This pits us against two powerful ideologies in the West today: liberalism and socialism. We are opposed to socialism because we recognize the existence of God, the importance of the family and therefore, of the private property it must enjoy in order to flourish. But Campagne Québec-Vie is also opposed to liberalism, insofar as this ideology misunderstands freedom, putting it above the truth. Against liberals, we believe that everyone has a duty to obey the true God and that there is no real freedom in choosing abortion, a homosexual lifestyle, or a false belief or religion.

Campaign Québec-Vie therefore wants a society that protects the unborn child, but we know that such a society can only be a society that respects the true God, really and truly existing today at this moment, the same God who waits for us to obey His commandments so that he can shower us with His blessings. This is why, unlike other pro-life organizations, along with respect for life, our complementary goal is the establishment of a truly Christian society, in its families and in its government. (See our mission and objectives, here.)

At Campagne Québec-Vie we want to openly affirm what was, in the past, implicit. We are therefore no longer non-confessional; in April 2019, we decided to limit full membership in the board of directors to Catholics. We did this out of a need for consistency. If God is to be respected in order for a culture of life to flourish at large, then the same should go for our organization. Moreover, we believe that the true God is that of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, a precise and personal God who founded a visible Church, not a vague and formless god who preaches indifference and a nebulous “brotherhood.”

This is why at Campagne Québec-Vie we defend faith, family and life: we cannot ask society to respect the unborn child while ignoring the contempt with which this same society treats the God who created the child, heaven, earth and all creatures that inhabit it!

For faith, family, and life,

Georges Buscemi
President, Campagne Québec-Vie