The Archbishop, or the Reichsbishop?
by Gerry Hunter
In his pastoral letter of June 29, 2005, Archbishop Roussin reminded us of a hard truth that faithful Catholics face as they stand firm in the defense of marriage and the family:
Code:
We know that we face misunderstanding and persecution for taking this stand.
Doubtless, many outside the Church, and also some within her, will see this statement as mere rhetoric. Had they been listening to CBC Vancouver on the morning of Monday, July 18th though, the doubters would have found cause to reflect on such a conclusion.
The “Commentary” feature that morning presented an item by one Bob Ferguson, a retired professor and engineer, from the Royal Military College. The piece could have come from Bob Jones University, or Jack Chick Publications, rather than Marysville, Ontario. Its airing gives cause for reflection on two fronts: Its content, and the CBC’s apparent rationale for airing it.
Mr. Ferguson presents as no friend of faith in general, and the Catholic Church in particular. Whereas Archbishop Roussin asked, “How can we not stand up for something that is so fundamental to the human person and human society?!” the commentator begins by noting the “inertia of the Catholic Church.” He then proposes a very chilling and coercive mechanism to overcome this “inertia”. He would, using “human rights, employment, and consumer legislation” make it “illegal to require a particular marital status a a condition of employment or to exclude women from the priesthood.” The Church, he opines, would cave in on this, and the Vatican “would come to accept them [the changes] as a fact of life in Canada.”
A self-identifying professional engineer, Mr. Ferguson clearly intends that the existing legal apparatus of the State be brought to bear, full force, to re-engineer the Church. He wants a “code” that would ban claims of “exclusivity,” (truth, really), eliminate “ritual circumcisions,” (he appears to not much like Jews, either), censor preaching, and regulate faith-healers and missionaries. He claims that he “won’t try to propose what might be in the new code” that would accomplish his goals, and concluded by consigning religion to the realm of being a “comfort and guide.” But the question arises: Should we take comfort from any of this, and to where would Mr. Ferguson guide us?
Before we go much further, we should put this in perspective. It is mostly drivel – anti-Catholic drivel to be sure, but drivel. I, for one, have found worse under my windshield wiper after Mass, years ago, from the sources I cited above, among others. It’s nothing new; it’s nothing substantive; BUT it was not on some cheaply printed handbill. It was broadcast on the CBC. The CBC is taxpayer funded, and all its claims of independence not withstanding, politically connected. (If you doubt that, notice the relative ease with which its most recent past Chairperson moved to being a Provincial Liberal Finance Minister.) And not only did the CBC give it airtime, it gave it context.
… continued
