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 OTTAWA - Fr. James Whalen, one of the Canadian priesthood’s strongest pro-life advocates, passed away suddenly Feb. 24 while preaching for the cause. He was 68.
Fr. Whalen died while conducting a pro-life parish mission in Thorold, Ont., in the St. Catharines archdiocese.
Fr. Whalen’s strong support for the pro-life cause — he was designated pro-life researcher and analyst for the archdiocese of Ottawa — led to his being asked to become national director of the newly created Priests for Life Canada, an association of priests and lay people who promote the sanctity of human life, in 1996. He accepted and went on to tirelessly advocate for the unborn and infirm threatened by euthanasia.
Ordained to the priesthood in the archdiocese of Ottawa in 1972, Fr. Whalen had been pastor of St. Margaret Mary parish in Cumberland since 1992. Over his career he had also been spiritual director of the Legion of Mary Senatus and the Ottawa area Catholic Home Schoolers’ Association. He had also for 30 years been chaplain to the native peoples of Ottawa and was founder of the Odawa Native Friendship Centre.
But it is in the pro-life movement where Fr. Whalen made his mark. It was a challenge he said he couldn’t resist.
“Contraception, abortion and euthanasia are the greatest direct attacks against humanity of all time,” he is quoted as saying on the Priests for Life web site. “Isn’t it only right that we support and encourage our priests in this role? Isn’t it important that all priests and all Catholics unite in this common struggle to attack the ‘Culture of Death’ so prevalent in today’s society?”
Fr. Whalen’s funeral was held Feb. 29 at Divine Infant Church in Orleans. He is interred at Ottawa’s Hope Cemetery.
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