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Calgary’s Roman Catholic Bishop Fred Henry emerged this weekend as one of the few voices applauding the Prentice government bill on gay-straight alliances, but not all his flock shares his belief.

The bishop penned a letter that was distributed to congregants on Sunday regarding the bill, which could have forced gay-straight alliance meetings off school property if local school boards objected to their presence.

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In the face of mounting resistance to Bill 10, which had already been amended once, Prentice put the legislation on hold on Dec. 4.

In his letter, Henry writes that he believed Bill 10 was a “win-win for everyone” because it enshrined parental rights, recognized the autonomy of local school boards and student rights.

“The mandating of gay-straight alliances is problematic for a number of reasons,” states the letter.

“It infringes parental authority over their children, the freedom to instruct one’s children in a manner consistent with their faith, and citizens rights to manifest their religious beliefs by worship practice in the absence of coercion or constraint by government.”