12 Facts About Raymond Gravel

Raymond Gravel was a Canadian Catholic priest and politician from the province of Quebec.

Raymond Gravel was elected to the House of Commons in a November 27,2006 by-election following the death of Benoit Sauvageau.

Raymond Gravel entered the seminary in 1982 and became a priest.

Raymond Gravel was controversial among the Catholic clergy and laity for his support of abortion rights, euthanasia and same-sex marriage, three issues officially opposed by the Church.

Raymond Gravel was most recently a priest at St-Joachim de la Plaine Church in La Plaine, Quebec.

Raymond Gravel was acclaimed as the Bloc's candidate on October 29,2006.

Raymond Gravel received a dispensation from Gilles Lussier, Bishop of Joliette, to enter politics.

However, following his opposition to Bill C-484, which would have recognized injury of a fetus during a crime as a separate offence from an injury to the mother, and his support for Dr Henry Morgentaler receiving the Order of Canada, Raymond Gravel was ordered by the Vatican to either give up the priesthood or leave politics, and he finally announced he would not run in the 2008 election, saying that the priesthood was his life.

Raymond Gravel cited as his biggest regret his inability to pass his private member's bill C-490, which aimed to improve seniors' access to guaranteed income supplements.

Raymond Gravel was removed from a position as a catechist in the Quebec Diocese of Joliette during 2010.

Raymond Gravel then launched a lawsuit against the LifeSiteNews agency, a project of the Campaign Life Coalition, for $500,000 in damages.

Raymond Gravel stated that LSN misrepresented him by identifying him as 'pro-abortion' while he identified himself as 'pro-choice'.