Canada declares April 2 ‘Pope John Paul II Day’
January 02, 2015
Following a 44-26 senate vote, Canada has designated April 2, the anniversary of St. John Paul II’s death, as “Pope John Paul II Day.”
The vote was preceded by an impassioned December 15 appeal by Serge Joyal, a Liberal senator from Quebec, that the bill should be opposed because it runs counter to the 1982 Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
“This bill gives legislative recognition to a system of thought and religious principles that often opposes some of the core fundamental rights enshrined in the Charter and precepts that conflict, at times, with the implementation of the rule of law and the very protection of the lives of citizens,” he said.
He added:
Think of the equality of men and women. Is there an element present in Canada, all through the land, not more in the public mind these days — and forever will reach parity — than the equality of men and women? In the history of the Roman Catholic Church and Pope John Paul II, honourable senators, this has no bearing. I don't want to be too negative in relation to that, but the doctrine of the Church is simple: Women should defer to men as Church defers to God. Hence, women in the Roman Catholic Church are not able to have any responsibility to the altar, no ordinance and no capacity to manage at the upper level. It is a man's world. And there is the undercurrent, when you read the teachings, that sin entered the world through women.
Today, of course, in a lay society such as ours, if you vindicate the teachings of Christ as they are interpreted by the Roman Catholic Church, you run into conflict with that principle …
The other principle of the Charter that you know as well as I do — we debated this in the chamber some years ago — is section 15. We are equal under the law, and we have the same benefit of the law. Hence, we have civil marriage. Hence, homosexuality is not a mental disorder.
Well, under Pope John Paul II, according to an amendment of the catechism in 1986, homosexuality is an objective disorder. If you are homosexual, you are a lesser person because you are objectively disordered.
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Further information:
- Bill C-266 makes April 2 annually “Pope John Paul II Day” (CCCB)
- Monday, December 15, 2014 (Parliament of Canada)
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Posted by: Randal Mandock -
Jan. 03, 2015 11:18 PM ET USA
The Liberal senator speaks like an unlearned man; i.e., ignorant of the system he hopes to denigrate. As declared by Christ, where the rule of law (i.e., the "traditions of men") conflicts with justice, it must be opposed. Women do not "defer to men" in the Catholic Church any more than any layman defers to episcopal authority in Church governance. "No capacity to manage at the upper level?" How out of touch is this fellow? Women are ubiquitous as Eucharistic ministers, heads of education, etc.
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Posted by: I am Canadian! -
Jan. 02, 2015 1:27 PM ET USA
Well, the good news is he still recognizes that the church has the power to influence society.
