Dan Green
Author of Teeth, Lies & Consequences & Blue Saltwater
The Catholic League Argues that Priests’ Unfairly Demonized
Apr 11th
A full page essay sponsored by the ‘Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights’ appeared in the April 11, 2011 issue of the NY Times, where Mr. Bill Donohue asserted that the Church and its priests are being unfairly attacked by media, lawyers, and others who exploit the issue of sexual abuse for ideological and financial profit. Mr. Donohue sites several instances where this has occurred, specifically mentioning attorney Jeffery Anderson, BishopAccountability.org, and a Grand Jury investigation in Philadelphia that “turned into a single-minded pursuit of priests”.
He goes on to say that groups such as teachers, public employees, media outlets and other religious and professional organizations are not held to the same “zero tolerance” standards when it comes to investigating allegations.
Why is This? I’ll tell you why. The Catholic Church since its inception over 2000 years ago has held itself up as the “one true church” founded by Jesus Christ and passed on down to St. Peter. The priests of Rome have always been revered by Catholics as descendents of this sacred lineage and therefore no matter how much children or adolescents may have expressed their dislike or fear of individual priests, they were taught right from the beginning that they must respect all priests regardless of how they felt, because these were blessed individuals chosen by God who could do no wrong. Nobody else in the world compared to priests in this way. Respected secular professions such as teachers, dentists, doctors, lawyers were also held in high esteem but in a more individual way. If one went bad, he or she was disbarred, had their licence lifted, or was sent to jail, but generally the profession as a whole was left untarnished.
Priests are believed by Catholics to have a direct connection to God in that they alone can transform the wine and water into the body and blood of Christ and that they alone can intercede with the almighty and forgive our sins. That is why we cannot accept their trangressions with the same ‘wink of an eye’ that we can with other ‘normal’ human beings. This is the cross they have chosen to bare.
If the Church wishes to retain what little respect still remains, it must become more fully aware of what its priests mean to the faithful and to some extent, the public at large. All allegations, no matter if they happened years before, must each be given a respectful transparent hearing in front of a fully independent board made up of clergy, the faithful, and the general public. If guilty, the perpetrator must be made accountable and where not, compensation and sincere apologies are in order.
Mr. Donohue also reports studies showing that 80% of the abuse was homosexual and not pedophilic, since three quarters of the victims were post-pubescent just like Blue Saltwater. Is that supposed to mean that the acts weren’t as serious?
Why doesn’t the Church look in the mirror and ask itself why it attracts homosexuals? Is it because it doesn’t allow gay marriage and so, where is a good Catholic gay man to go? Is it because it still clings to the idea of celibacy and thereby excludes many excellent heterosexual men who do not find this to be a reasonable normal lifestyle. Is it because it excludes women in the priesthood who would have called out the abusers long before this?
Book Publication by the AHF
Apr 7th
The Aboriginal Healing Foundation announced that it is launching a new publication entitled “Cultivating Canada: Reconcilation Through the Lens of Cultural Diversity”. This is a series of essays by non-indigenous, non-white Canadians which hopes to engage a wider circle in the dialogue of truth and reconcilation with first peoples. This is the third in a series of research publications by the AHF. The first book looked at truth and reconciliation in general and the second dealt with the meaning of the official apology offered in 2008 by Prime Minister Stephen Harper. This current project features extensive color artwork and creative projects.
A book launch in Kamloops on April 5, offered a free copy of this 400 page book to anyone who attends the event. The editor, Ashok Mathur, is from Thompson River University and is Canada’s research chair in cultural and artistic inquiry. He said the AHF is giving it away since “their mandate is to get Canadians to talk about the issues, not make money off it”.
That sounds great, but the fact is that since its inception in 1998, the AHF has been granted $475 million by the Canadian taxpayer with a substantial portion of that money I suspect, going to support the salaries of editors like Mr. Mathur and AHF Executive Director, Michael DeGagne. In that context, six hundred free books doesn’t really sound like that big a deal and with the taxpayer footing the bill, God forbid that the AHF and its editors should worry about something so trivial as trying to recover some of their costs.
Last year the Conservative government announced that this funding would not be renewed and that mental health and emotional support issues would now be provided through a $199 million Health Canada fund.
Commendable and worthwhile as this publication may be, like the previous two, it is mainly an academic exercise that will never be seen, heard about, or noticed by most Canadians and it will do little to engage a much wider circle of dialogue.
I believe that an accessible story such as ‘Blue Saltwater’, published without any government assistance, that weaves a tale about a heroic individual fighting his way through the residential school system, if given at least some verbal support by organizations like the TRC and the AHF, would go alot further in raising awareness amongst Canadians about this issue. This would come at far less cost to the Canadian taxpayer and would allow for funding grants to go directly to helping the people who were most affected.
National Aboriginal Achievment Awards
Apr 5th
On Saturday April 9, Global TV will carry the 2011 National Aboriginal Achievement Awards from Edmonton, Alberta. The awards are being presented to 14 outstanding aboriginal Canadians and the gala is being hosted by Adam Beach and Evan Adams.
Beach’s latest movie with Harrison Ford is entitled ‘Cowboys and Aliens’ and is scheduled for release in the next few months. Other movie credits include Clint Eastwood’s ‘Flag of our Fathers’, ‘Windtalkers’ with Nicholas Cage and the 1998 production ‘Smoke Signals’ where he and Evan Adams played two Indian guys who leave the reserve in search of themselves. This movie won an award that year at the Sundance Film Festival. On TV he has played roles in ‘Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee’ and recently in ‘Hawaii 5-0’.
In a recent interview with the Vancouver Sun, Beach said that ‘the awards are very important because our people need role models, they need heroes, and they don’t realize there are heroes right in their own backyard”.
Blue Saltwater lives right in your own backyard Mr. Beach and I am going to see that you have a chance to meet him. I’ll be interested to see whether he is the type of heroic role model you’re talking about.
Old Habits Hard to Break
Apr 3rd
An editorial in the NY Times, April 2, 2011, entitled, “What Happened to ‘Zero Tolerance’?”, spoke of the gaping holes in the “zero tolerance” mandate for priests suspected of abusing children, since any allegations about rogue priests are first vetted by chancery officials working for the archdiocese before the cases go before independent review boards. This is the same as police departments, health, legal, and other professions vetting complaints behind closed doors before they are turned over to outside boards working on the public’s behalf. It’s a no-brainer when it comes to conflict of interest.
A committee of American Roman Catholic bishops has now announced that a popular book about God by Sister Elizabeth A. Johnson, entitled “Quest for the Living God”, should not be used in Catholic schools because it does not uphold church doctrine. . Sister Johnson in response, said that the bishops never even invited her to discuss the book and that she was unaware that they were assessing it until they had already decided to issue a condemnatory statement.
When it comes to religious control, old habits are hard to break but at least the Catholics aren’t currently killing people who don’t agree with their point of view. Something good about that.
Not all residential school experiences were negative
Mar 30th
Most reporting on the residential school experience has focused on the negative impacts of the system. However, there were many individuals who worked within the schools over the years; nuns, priests, brothers and lay people, who left a positive impact. One of these was was Rena Martinson who was recently made an honorary member of the Saskatchewan River First Nation. The full story about Rena’s experience can be seen at www.kenoradailyminerandnews.com.
There were many like Rena who earnestly did their best to make a positive difference in the lives of the aboriginal children under their care. The help and advice that Blue received from both Father Joe Murphy and Brother Tremblay in the story are examples of this.
There are many similar stories that could be told by the survivors participating in the Truth and Reconcilation Commission’s deliberations currently being held across Canada. Revelations of this nature would provide balance to the conversation and would go a long way in promoting healing, understanding, and reconciliation between the Canadian public and First Nation communities.
Jesuits Pay the Piper
Mar 26th
Just as Brother Denny Boyle told Blue on Page 90 that it was his “turn to pay the piper”, the Oregon Province of the Society of Jesus is now experiencing payback time. It has agreed to pay $166 million to more than 500 victims of sexual abuse. The Jesuits are a Catholic religious order whose focus is education. and this the largest abuse settlement by any order of the Catholic Church. (New York Times, March 26, 2011).
Significant as this is to the survivors, this article represents the type of documentary reporting about nameless victims that we have been exposed to since the late ’60’s. It has come to the point where the public has become numbed by it all and just doesn’t pay attention anymore. Accordingly the article was placed on page 14 of the paper. Yet, when people read “Blue Saltwater”, some tell me that they find the story “dark”, like it’s a bad thing, and that it makes them feel the pain. Does this mean that experiencing Blue’s reality will help people more fully understand the gross dysfunction of the Indian Residential School System and its aftermath? I hope so.
Charlie Hunter
Mar 25th
Charlie is finally going home. What about Jeremy, Big Louis and the rest? See www.thestar.com
Lost Children in Residential Schools
Mar 22nd
How many aboriginal children died while in the custody of residential schools just like Jeremy Cardinal? Jeremy was Blue’s first friend when he arrived at the school and Blue did as much as he could to help the little guy survive. When Jeremy ran for his life and drowned, it was a defining moment for Blue and catalyzed his escape from the school. See Page 88 in the book.
The recent story in www.thestar.com by Peter Edwards of March 15, 2011 entitled “Star readers rally to bring Charlie Hunter home” reinforces the prevelence of this occurence during those years of incarceration. I think the days of blame must come to an end and instead we must all work together to begin about the healing process. A national monument to all those who will never be found or returned should be built by the Truth and Reconcilation Commission. This would be a good first step and help ensure that we “never forget”.
DID YOU KNOW?
Mar 9th
47% of First Nations people in BC are under the age of 24 versus 19% in the province as a whole. 38% of these kids do not complete high school versus 9% for the mainstream population and not surprisingly their unemployment rate is 22.5% versus 8%. Dirac Most have lost their native tongue and speak English only. When I do the math and look toward the future, I don’t like the view! How about you?
WHO IS BLUE SALTWATER?
Mar 5th
A tough restless teenager, born and raised on Haida Gwaii. He’s had it with schooling that means squat, and with all the quarrelling and anger that fill his home. Balfour . His dream is independence, by following in the path of his Haida ancestors and becoming a fearless hunter on the North Pacific. He is shocked to realize that his father is not the hero that he had always revered, but rather a macho wife-beater whose final answer is aways delivered with the back of his hand. His mother has chosen the refuge of Father Joe Murphy, a new young priest that has come hanging around. How can you blame Blue for being pissed off?
