History, like statistics and streetlights, is made to enlighten us, not to support us. We must not look to history for a justification of the papal visit to Canada. In order to be able to judge the relevance of this visit, it is necessary to establish its objectives and, above all, those of Canada and Canadians and those of the Pope and his Church.
For the Canadian state… Yes rather, for the various levels of government in Canada, I see only one objective: that of masking the responsibilities incumbent on the Canadian people and their rulers. It is, in fact, Canadians of various origins, of various religions, of various political and social classes who have advocated and implemented policies that have led to results that we know very little about. The Pope and the Catholic Church as institutions had little to do with these policies. That the pope and the Church supported or suggested them is possible, even probable, but throwing the responsibility for the faults committed on the Devil, the woman, the pope or the Church is a condemnable attitude. Faults, errors, nonsense, it is here, it is we who have committed them and it is up to us to repair them, if possible, and to the extent of our individual and collective responsibilities.
As for the pope, what is he doing in Canada? Penance? Let’s go then. He didn’t need to go so far for so little. The Pope is pursuing a very specific objective here, which is to restore the fading star of the Catholic Church among Canadians and, more particularly, among Aboriginal peoples. As for the Church, she pursues the objective which she gave herself centuries ago and which is to subject all the peoples of the earth to her dogmas, her values and her laws.
Relevant or not, the Pope’s visit? For who ? Why ?