While Rome Talks, Québec Has Already Been Lost
This is the title of an article by Sandro Magister (of www.chiesa), well worth reading.
In his homily at the opening Mass for the synod of bishops dedicated to the Sacred Scriptures, Benedict XVI recalled that from the first proclamation of the Gospel, “Christian communities arose that at first were flourishing, but later disappeared and are now remembered only in the history books.”And he added:
“Could not the same thing happen in our time? Nations that once were rich in faith and vocations are now losing their identity, under the harmful and destructive influence of a certain modern culture.”
It can be guessed that, among these nations that once were exuberantly Christian but are no longer so, Pope Joseph Ratzinger is thinking of Canada, and more precisely of Québec.
An interesting essay on Faith and Secularism by Cardinal Marc Ouellet follows Magister’s article.
A Stern Warning to Canada
by A.M. Juster
If you want peace,
withdraw your geese.
Read the above in First Things and thought of you all….
Quebec under a strong Catholic clergy was not a kind place, and we have many scandals specific to us to remind us of this fact. The Catholic Church itself, allied with Maurice Duplessis’ conservative government, contributed more by its actions to laiticize Quebec society than any aspect of ‘modern culture’, and I am tired of hearing pre-Revolution Tranquille Quebec extolled as some kind of ideal society where justice and mercy reigned under the benevolent hand of the Church. Any French-Canadian family, including my own, can hand down stories of abuses of authority by Catholic clergy they personally experienced, meddling of the clergy in political life, and conspicuous absence of clerical voices denouncing inequality and injustice. If anything, Quebec’s strong religious past teaches us that power corrupts.
Is this really the sort of past the Catholic Church should be dwelling on as its golden years? You worry me.
That is the kind of unbalanced revisionist history taught in Quebec schools. I’m from a French Canadian family too, and find the record to be grossly skewed to the negative. Those religious kept our communities going and together. They provided health care in very clean hospitals, took care of orphans and the aged when nobody else had the means to do so, and educated children right across Canada. They played a major role in maintaining the French presence outside of Quebec, and provided schooling within a hostile-to-French environment, particularly in the Prairies. Sure you had “characters”, but all in all they were selfless, dedicated people who embraced lives of toil and poverty for the rest of us. It’s time we thanked them!
Since the religious no longer play such a role in the leadership of our institutions and communities, things haven’t gone better. We might live in more prosperous times, and maybe our material wealth makes us think we don’t need God, but our suicide rate, particularly amongst the young has gone through the roof. Quebecers no longer have stable families. Some golden years, huh?
I like very much your observations and education Rachelle. Thx.
Is the present secular world any less corrupt? Thx.
I think we are looking at a textbook case as to why JPII was so intent on keeping clergymen outside of partisan politics, and concentrating rather, on the renewal of the culture.
While I don’t think anyone wants to go back to the Duplessis/Lionel Groulx days, Its clear enough that the anti-clericalism and enforced secularization born of a misunderstand of the cncept of separation of church and state has not worked either, as Rachelle pointed out. The state shall neither establish a church, nor interfere with religious instruction.
As for the abolition of confessional schols and the introdction or the mandatory world religions course allI can say is that I’m glad that here in Ontario we still have catholic schools where what a child learns at home is not contradicted at school.