Shared responsibility

Canada’s Catholic bishops need to apologize for the Church’s involvement in residential schools, but not because of public pressure or demands by the Indigenous people of Canada, or requests by the prime minister, or even by the Parliament. Rather the bishops need to apologize in order to exemplify the virtue of solidarity, one of the most revered principles of Catholic social teaching.

“As Minister of Health, I am proud to present Health Canada’s Second Annual Report on Medical Assistance in Dying (2020).”

Although I don’t feel qualified to speak to the ongoing revelations of life and death at Canada’s residential schools, I would still like to weigh in, and to express my sorrow.

There are some days it is harder than others to get up the energy, and indeed the courage to make the trip downtown to the Church on the Street, and this was one of them.

Forgive me for regarding with a somewhat dry eye my fellow Canadians’ umbrage gusting to apoplexy over the infamy of Indian Residential Schools, and Catholic blame for same.

‘Bowdlerized’ reality

The horrific news of the residential schools grave sites created such an avalanche of rancour against the Catholic Church that factual information was either deliberately ignored or distorted. 

There will be more … more unmarked graves, more grief, more anger, more shame.

We ought to be feeling pretty good about ourselves.

I have thought a lot about euthanasia over the years. I have thought about it too much.

I was recently inspired by Venezuelan goalkeeper Wuilker Faríñez. My jaw dropped as he saved shot after shot in a 0-0 draw against heavily favoured Colombia in the COPA America football tournament, currently being played in Brazil.