Ring the bells that can still ring.
Forget your perfect offering.
There’s a crack, a crack in everything.
That’s how light(truth) gets in. (Leonard Cohen)
Pope Francis will be coming to Canada this summer. We are told the purpose of this visit is to show penance for the treatment of Canada’s Aboriginal Community within the Residential School system, many of which were managed by The Catholic Church, The Anglican Church and various governments. Possibly admitting wrongdoing by members of The Catholic Church’s Religious and Diocesan Communities.
Is Pope Francis coming to Canada to act as a fixer of the situation and apologist for the Church? Will His Holiness admit to the Church’s historic wrongdoing, and also the systematic Church Lead actions to deny The Aboriginal Communities and Canadian Government’s demands for full transparency, giving these organizations all historic documents for investigation? Will Pope Francis straight out admit The Churches destructive contrarian actions towards The Aboriginal People or “Say Sorry” and deny any other action.
The Church has been acting just as it did when historic accusations of sexual improprieties against Church Members by the clergy and religious have to happen.
1. Receive information of impropriety, and then do nothing about it.
2. Say they’re investigating the accusations, and play the waiting game. (diversion)
3. When forced to admit possible improprieties offer insufficient solutions to the problem.(see if they can get away with it)
a. Clergy will go to special classes for adaptive training, (sex addiction… whatever)
b. Offer a small sum of funds as restitution while admitting nothing.
Pope Francis will not fall upon his sword of morality. He will probably not admit to anything that will touch The Church now, admitting to only that bad things happened in the past. The $30 million offered by the church will probably not be paid, but offers will be given. A hocus pocus situation will be created, where The Churches Rock Star will perform for The Aboriginal Community and Canadians, a song and dance of penance but nothing more. “Were so sorry” and “we feel so horrible about it”.
Why is Pope Francis coming to Canada? He has been told to do so by the church hierarchy as a face-to-face showing, a diversion from what their church should be doing. The Canadian Catholic Church is worth over $2.5 billion dollars, and there can develop a situation where The Aboriginal Community or The Canadian Government will lay multiple lawsuits against the Church. This can happen, and if it does there is a chance for Aboriginal Communities all over the world to follow suit. Members of the Church have behaved badly in Africa, Australia and also elsewhere.
I like Pope Francis, and having this elderly cleric coming to Canada to do what should typically be a young man’s job seems wrong. Maybe get Cardinal Collins to do something useful and have him commiserate with our Aboriginal Neighbors out west. If these religious pilgrims arrive without a cheque in hand, and pound their breasts loudly in penance, while not having a plan of restitution this will not go well.
In my experience, The Church takes care of itself and its foot soldiers(clergy) just like any other ” boys club”, similar to the police’s blue line. The Aboriginal Community should welcome Pope Francis firmly, protesting the horrors their families had to historically endure. No more dancing peacefully but throw an egg or two perhaps. Getting blessed by the Pope will be a wonderful thing, but that blessing won’t pay their bills, or somehow heal them. All authority wants a passive Aboriginal Community, you know, easily pushed around. History has shown the Aboriginals are pushovers. How about doing something totally different. Raise your fists and demand satisfaction.
Steven Kaszab
Bradford, Ontario
[email protected]
