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Bishop Ronald Fabbro is taking a public stand against the Canadian government as part of a national furor over what faith leaders consider a heavy-handed policy regarding abortion.

Fabbro issued a letter Tuesday saying the London Diocese of the Roman Catholic Church will not seek funding from a federal summer jobs program because it will not be “bullied” into supporting abortion.

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Instead, the diocese intends to request donations from parishioners, including in Windsor and Essex County, to help pay for summer jobs such as camp leaders, IT officers, archive workers and more.

The rare stand against Ottawa is a reaction to new requirements for federal summer-job funding.

The Government of Canada’s online summer jobs funding-application page requires applicants to attest that the employer’s core mandate supports individual human rights:

“The employer attestation for CSJ (Canada Summer Jobs) 2018 is consistent with individual human rights in Canada, Charter rights and case law, and the Government of Canada’s commitment to human rights, which include women’s rights and women’s reproductive rights, and the rights of gender-diverse and transgender Canadians.”