Selling the Vatican Short?

"Mr. Savoie started his speech by comparing the 3,000 deaths from 9/11 to the over 3,000 daily deaths that result from abortion."
"'Why', he wondered out loud, 'were we so stunned and bewildered by the 3,000 deaths on 9/11 when we're so silent about the 3,000-plus deaths that occur each day in North America from abortion?"
Knights of Columbus December 2009 newsletter, Canada

"We want to appoint diplomats who are skilled, capable and ready to represent our country."
"We have now a candidate who has crossed that line. He is someone who has taken is personal opinions and used inappropriate comparisons."
"In this case, the message is the messenger. And they're sending a messenger who has said things that are totally unacceptable. Mr. Savoie caries with him the baggage of his comments and his participation in very highly charged politics -- the politics of abortion. That's why he is not well suited to be a candidate to be the ambassador."
NDP Member of Parliament Paul Dewar

"We're confident in Mr. Savoie's ability to do his job capably and objectively. He's highly accomplished. He's got a wealth of experience in a number of sectors and he was appointed to advance the government of Canada's interests, values and positions at the Holy See."
"Mr. Savoie is entitled to his personal beliefs."
"The government's position on abortion is clear. We have no intention of reopening the debate."
Adam Hodge, press secretary to Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird

A former leader with the Knights of Columbus will be Canada's ambassador to the Vatican. Franco Origlia, Getty Images

At first blight it does seem that Mr. Savoie, who has in the past held leadership roles with the Knights of Columbus, including as deputy supreme knight and assistant to the supreme knight for Canadian affairs and who has spoken publicly to thousands participating in the anti-abortion March for Life on Parliament Hill, might be a good fit for the Vatican's rigid position on birth control and abortion. On the other hand, linking the 9/11 terrorist deaths with abortion procedures does go a giant step too far.

It's a pity that in naming Mr. Savoie as an appointee to Canada's Vatican mission, government-to-government at the Holy See, the decision was made to pass over candidates from within the professional diplomatic corps of the public service. Granted, there may be times when reaching outside the public service to identify a candidate whose breadth of experience may make them suitable for the position to be filled may work very well.

On this occasion, it seems that someone failed to exercise good judgement based on a meticulous examination of the record of the candidate being studied and finally named to the appointment. And that's a pity, because for once it's hard not to agree with Mr. Dewar in his opposition to a governing Conservative initiative.

Mr. Savoie may have done an excellent job in his former position as a senior executive of New Brunswick Power, but his personal views and his public involvement and his outrageously odious comparisons of a terrorist act equating with a women's decision to terminate a pregnancy in a free and democratic society are unsavoury and antediluvian. A partial match, but no cigar, folks.

Mr. Savoie's sanctimonious neurotic fixation on denying women the right to choose for themselves whether they are prepared to deliver a full-term baby rather than terminate an unwanted foetus reflects his Roman Catholic sensibilities, but does not produce in him a fitting Canadian representative to the Vatican, nor does it reflect prevailing public opinion on the matter, let alone the government's stance.

Vatican Swiss guards march prior to a swearing-in ceremony, at the Vatican, Tuesday, May 6, 2014.
(Alessandra Tarantino/AP)