TORONTO -- Pope Benedict sparked a debate about the place of religious beliefs in Canadian politics yesterday, telling Ontario bishops Canada has excluded "God from the public sphere" with laws supporting same-sex marriage and abortion.

The pontiff told a group of seven visiting bishops in Vatican City that Canadian Catholic politicians are ignoring the values of their religion, yielding to "ephemeral social trends and the spurious demands of opinion polls."

"In the name of tolerance, your country has had to endure the folly of the redefinition of spouse -- and, in the name of freedom-of-choice, it is confronted with the daily destruction of unborn children," he said.

A representative with the Ontario Conference of Catholic Bishops who was travelling with the bishops in Italy said the group was busy with engagements and unable to comment immediately on the Pope's message.

Alfonse Ainsworth, general secretary of the organization, said he expects the bishops will take the Pope's words into consideration when planning their strategy for the next provincial and federal election.

The meeting was a routine one the Pope has with regional bishops every five years. The Pope met with bishops from Atlantic Canada in May, telling them Canada was "suffering from the pervasive effects of secularism" and pointing to "the plummeting birthrate" as proof.

"Because of that, politicians have a responsibility to not be proponents of a particular faith when making decisions that affect everyone," Marchildon said. "We don't have a state religion in Canada."

Just as government doesn't instruct the Catholic Church how to celebrate communion, the church shouldn't instruct politicians on who can get married, he said. "I'm surprised the Pope doesn't realize that gate can swing both ways."

But Joanne McGarry, executive director of the Catholic Civil Rights League, said the Pope has every right to instruct Catholics on how to live their lives. "That's what popes have always done."

Pat O'Brien, the former Liberal London-area MP who resigned over his party's stand on same-sex marriage, said there is no such thing as separation between church and state.

"A morality of convenience is not much of a morality and if you're going to leave behind your Catholic Christian beliefs and principles because you walk into a legislative chamber, to me that would be a morality of convenience," said O'Brien, who is now part of Vote Marriage Canada. "Politicians who say they are practising Catholics and practising Christians will hopefully very carefully consider the words of the Holy Father."

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