Halifax Archdiocese pulls funding from Guardian Angel (Post #158)

Excerpt from the CBC:   Halifax Archdiocese pulls funding from Guardian Angel

The Archdiocese of Halifax has severed its ties of more than a century with the Home of the Guardian Angel, and now the organization is facing a major financial shortfall. That puts its adoption program in jeopardy.

Donna Williamson, executive director for Home of the Guardian Angel, said the archdiocese contributed $40,000 every year toward its operation. "Forty thousand dollars is huge for us," she said Thursday. "Funding through the province ended in 1996, so it really is detrimental to the adoption program."

The Archdiocese of Halifax established the Home of the Guardian Angel 124 years ago to help single mothers and abandoned babies. Since then, opinions have changed and government agencies have stepped in to help fill the gap. So now the Archdiocese says it's decided to put its money somewhere else. "The whole world has changed since that time, so what became very important was that as the church, as the Archdiocese of Halifax, we pay attention to what is the work that we need to do now, " Archdiocese spokeswoman Marilyn Sweet said.  They're looking at supporting agencies that are following the Catholic direction, she said.

Williamson said they discuss three options when counselling pregnant women: "To parent the child, to place the child for adoption or to have an abortion." Sweet said the Catholic Church does not support abortion. "Certainly there's no way that the Catholic Church supports abortion. We're very clear on that and the Home of the Gurdian angel is not a Catholic agency, so does it factor in? All questions need to be raised and looked at when you're making decisions," she said.

The new reality means extra fundraising must take place to save the adoption program.
"We're really hoping that we'll find our guardian angel and that funding will come through for us," Williamson said.
A fundraising event is scheduled for next month.

Sources include
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/story/2011/09/15/ns-archdiocese-halifax-guardian-angel.html
http://www.catholichalifax.org/new/
http://www.homeoftheguardianangel.ca/
http://www.catholichalifax.org/new/index.php?option=com_k2&view=itemlist&layout=category&task=category&id=9&Itemid=164