(LifeSiteNews) — Catholics in the Diocese of Kamloops in British Columbia had to protest their own Bishop over his allegiance to the anti-Catholic COVID regime.
Late last year, after a litany of instances where Catholic bishops in Canada complied with tyrannical and soul-damaging public health orders, the question for the Canadian faithful has turned from “Are the unvaccinated de facto excommunicated?” to “Do the Bishops of the Canadian Church even believe in the immortal soul?”
On February 5, dozens of Catholics peacefully protested at the Cathedral in Kamloops, British Columbia, after their incessant pleas to have COVID restrictions for Mass and the sacraments loosened by Bishop Joseph P. Nguyen.
Catholic churches are of course no strangers to protests. Legitimate scandals have led to legitimate protests, while anti-Catholic left-wing activists and agitators have also led protests for a variety of reasons throughout the years. But now, in Canada, we have encountered a new problem. True, faithful Catholics, abiding their informed consciences in accordance with the authentic teachings of the Catholic Church, are being forced to protest their own bishops in order to live out their faith.
On January 7, Catholics in the Northern Health Region of BC were told that everyone over the age of 11 was required to show proof of vaccination if they wanted to attend the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, while also being informed that all persons aged 5 and older would be forced to wear a mask.
Following the lead of the government, the policy was loosened on February 3, with so-called health authorities telling the clergy that so long as churches remain at less than 50 percent capacity, the unvaccinated will be allowed to enter.
Those with a mask exemption would not be allowed to attend, despite the overreaching government allowing and honoring such exemptions. In a small concession by the bishop, after parishioners complained about the unjust discrimination, a segregated Mass for those who cannot wear a mask was announced.
‘Freedom to Worship’
While the diocese of Kamloops did relent on an outright unvaccinated ban after the government gave them the go-ahead, the protest went ahead on February 5 anyway, with understandable justification.
Pictures from the event show a few dozen parishioners gathered outside the Cathedral with various signs saying “Freedom to Worship,” “Hide not Thy Face,” and “Be Not Afraid.”
In a keynote speech at the peaceful gathering, Ken Fraser, a parishioner within the diocese, outlined the reason for the demonstration succinctly.
“As society is being divided between the ‘vaccinated’ and ‘unvaccinated,’ it is shocking to see some leaders of my own Catholic Church encouraging this new medical apartheid,” stated Fraser according to a transcript of the speech provided to LifeSiteNews.
“The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that experimentation on human beings is not morally legitimate if it exposes a person to disproportionate or avoidable risks. Also, experimentation on human beings does not conform to the dignity of the person if it takes place without informed consent,” explained Fraser. “Since the mRNA gene therapies are experimental, any coercion or mandate to force someone to be injected with this technology is a direct violation of Catholic teaching.”
With data from the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) and the World Health Organization (WHO) showing that the experimental, abortion-tainted vaccines, have been linked to millions of injuries and thousands of deaths, it remains a shocking reality that such a thing is being forced on children.
It is not just “fringe” Catholics opposed to coerced experimental injection, but high-ranking clergy as well. According to Bishop Athanasius Schneider, “The voice of the unborn children’s blood is crying to God from the abortion-tainted vaccines, from the abortion-tainted medicines.”
“This voice is crying all over the world, and we have to awaken,” added His Excellency. “No one who is really deeply concerned about the defense of life and the moral law can be silent or can be quiet and can resign to this situation.”
Fraser accurately described the problem as not unique to Kamloops, but throughout the Church in Canada. Dioceses across the nation have imposed onerous and unscientific (and most importantly, unchristian) policies on their parishioners, including vaccine passports, online-only Masses, and bans on social gatherings normally integral to the faith life of parishioners.
The Catholic Church is the ark of salvation for souls, not bodies, and this allegiance to the pro-abortion, pro-LGBT, anti-Catholic Canadian governments, has caused harm to souls while providing no benefit, and often immense harm, to bodies.
‘Churches are hospitals’
In the conclusion of Fraser’s powerful speech in front of the Cathedral, he relayed the importance of open and welcoming churches, by recalling the tale of his cousin Justin.
Justin, like Fraser, had wrestled with the faith early in his youth. While Fraser was more or less quick to rediscover his home within the church, Justin, unfortunately, did not.
Fraser recalls the joyous relief of rediscovering the faith and the solace provided by the Church. While Fraser continued to persevere in the faith, Justin continued to struggle, ultimately taking his own life a week prior to the protest.
“Churches are not ‘holiness clubs’ or mere ‘religious associations.’ Churches are hospitals. They were built for the sick: the mentally, spiritually sick and struggling. There’s something that churches and hospitals must never do, and that is: turn away the sick. The first question we should ask a newcomer to the church is, ‘Hi, how are you?’ The first question should never be, ‘Sir, do you have a mask?’”
In a statement to LifeSiteNews, Fraser explained that the goal of the protest was ultimately to make a simple plea to the bishops to return the Church to Her true nature and reclaim Her true purpose.
“Our very souls are at peril … I’m not asking for a very specific, legalistic, pharisaical feature of a parish, I want the heart of Christ to come back.”
