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Writer's pictureDr. Reuben Louis Gabriel

THE POPE SAYS IT WAS GENOCIDE


Several things happened before and with the Pope's coming to Canada. For all of them collectively my reaction was mixed and I wasn't convinced they were all done in pure intent.


But the Pope's explanation while on the plane back home that the Catholic Church's activity with native people during the colonial period was nothing other than cultural genocide was a major departure from the historical dogma and ethos of the Catholic Church worldwide.


The Catholic Church is first and foremost a religious community, and its work hence in the world from its very beginning right up till today is first and foremost religious. In other words, at its core, the Church's work deals with world view, its propagation and nurture. In this the Church has through its history been exclusive.

The Vatican II Conference and its encyclicals in the early 1960s offered a minor departure from the theological exclusivism the Church unabashedly professed. Inculturation which acknowledged, appreciated, and embraced nonChristian local cultures was at the centre of deliberations. Yet the purpose was to make the Christian faith relevant to people in nonChristian contexts.


The Pope's radical pronouncement today on a plane back home was a further departure from Vatican II's acknowledgement of nonChristian cultures. It was a clear statement that forced Christian evangelistic activity whose goal was the elimination of nonChristian worldviews was unethical and unacceptable. The Pope's pronouncement also charged Catholic missionaries during the colonial period of seeking to eliminate native cultures and belief systems.


What do I infer from this happening today? My purpose isn't to point fingers at the Catholic Church. No, not at all. On the other hand, I am immensely impressed observing the dignity with which Canadian Catholics have in quietness and humility accepted collective guilt and felt ashamed of what happened.

Even more, all the happenings around the Pope and the Catholic Church in Canada this week shows to me that while doomsday prophets may see the weakening of the West in all such events, I see its strengthening. The Catholic Church's humility and public remorse, and its leader's open apology and condemnation of evil by its own tell me that while many other parts of the world would go to great lengths hiding their barbarities even with the help of brazenly greater religious fundamentalism; rationalism, humanism, respect for the law, and a love of virtue will continue to rule the western conscience and purge its people to make them an invaluable and indispensable asset for the world.

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