In his Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, James Joyce puts a singsong threat into the earliest childhood memories of his young hero:
Apologize,
Pull out his eyes,
Pull out his eyes,
Apologize.
That phrase comes to mind as I read the latest demands for an apology from the Catholic Chuch, coming now from Canada. On one level these demands seem reasonable, coming after the discovery of what is apparently a mass grave, containing the remains of over 200 children, at the site of a “residential school” operated by a Catholic religious order in Kamloops, British Columbia. But the expressions of outrage—often misdirected, often misinformed—seem to have another goal: the deliberate humiliation of the Catholic Church.
Before I go any further, let me make two points clear.
First, if the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, who ran the residential school, are withholding relevant information about the fate of children there, they deserve the criticism that is coming their way. Far too often in the past twenty years, Church authorities have claimed to be cooperating with investigators, while in fact resisting every inch of the way. The discovery of the children’s remains is shocking; the public deserves a full and accurate explanation of what happened.
Second, the “residential school” system was an atrocity, in which the Church should never have been involved. Under this system, set up in the late 19th century by the Canadian government’s Department of Indian Affairs, more than 150,000 children were taken from their families and trained—often under deficient and even abusive conditions—to adapt to the country’s now-dominant culture. This was not “genocide,” as some activists have charged, but it was a deplorable effort to eradicate a native culture.
First, find out what actually happened, and then demand, prosecute or wimp out!
Power and money, money and power.
Never a desire to right the wrong, only to profit from it. Who has the deepest pockets? Who has political clout that can be usurped?
Turdo’s Father was one of the politicians who sent the kids into the residential school system.
Little Bastardo is deflecting to the church.
What NO ONE ever admits is that these kids were already being abused in their own communities BEFORE the Pedo Priests got their hands on them. That still does not excuse the the priests at all.
Maybe we should take down the statues of Pierre Eliot Turdeau. AKA Your stepdad Justine!
“…set up in the late 19th century by the Canadian government’s Department of Indian Affairs….”
Just like Face Book and Twitter doing the dirty work of the U.S. Government today so that when the you-know-what hits the fan the government can say “I know nothing!”
Dear Canadia,
We apologize, for failing to come up there during the American Revolution, to kick the British lackeys that have enslaved you for 300 years, BACK across the ocean, and then annexing your wonderful winterland.
We’re sorry you turned out to be such wusses – especially your politicians – but we were a LITTLE busy at the time.
Sincerely,
‘MURICA!!!
@Bob M.
I accept Your apology.
What are you doing next year after covid?
We have beer.
He makes a great point about the fact that it was a government program, subcontracted to the church. Kinda like what goes on today with Catholic Charities.
Good Christian people should help the poor and the legal refugees but they should not participate in government programs and take government money to do it. Then it becomes a business with conflicts of interest and plausible deniability for all.
You want a model for how the church should deal with abusers? Look up Alessandro Serenelli (Italian, 1882-1970).
He murdered a pure young girl, went to prison, had a true change of heart, was forgiven by her mother. When he was released from prison, he was taken in by a monastery and lived out his days doing menial labor and praying. He lived to attend the ceremony where his victim was declared a saint.
Paging Mr. Theodore McCarrick…
The Vatigon is a Marxist temple.
“This was not “genocide,” as some activists have charged, but it was a deplorable effort to eradicate a native culture.”
Kinda like what is going on in the U.S. now..
Marxism has infiltrated the church. Well, duh……No wonder Jesus died for us. We’re too stupid all by ourselves.