I watched the so-called national funeral of Jean-Pierre Ferland on television. It all took place in a church in Montreal, at the Marie-Reine-du-Monde cathedral basilica. The situation seemed strange to me, that of a secular state and its government asking religious authority to preside over such funerals, which then necessarily had a strong spiritual connotation. We were a long way from the separation of Church and State so advocated by the current government. We were in complete contradiction!
For the government to be at all logical and consistent with itself, such funerals should be held in a non-religious, neutral place under the control of the State, such as a convention center, with families being able to hold another ceremony in a place of worship. The Church would then no longer have to play the current ambiguous role during national funerals. It is a practicing Catholic who expresses this wish.
To watch on video