CHRETIEN AND CLARKSON TO SNUB JOHN PAUL II

“highly unusual” for any Nations’ Leaders to Avoid Greeting the Pope   TORONTO, July 4, 2002 (LSN.ca) – It is being reported that neither the Governor General of Canada nor the Prime Minister will take the trouble to greet Pope John Paul II when he arrives in Toronto on July 24 for World Youth Day (WYD).  According to unconfirmed reports from CFTO, Ottawa told WYD organizers last Friday that neither Adrienne Clarkson nor Jean Chretien will show up at Pearson International Airport to meet the pope’s plane—as would be normal for a visiting head of state, let alone the spiritual head of the 23 per cent of Canadians outside Quebec and 19 per cent of those in Quebec who profess themselves Roman Catholics (based on R. Bibby’s findings in Restless Gods, 2002). When the pope visited Canada in 1984, both Prime Minister John Turner and Governor General the late Jeanne Sauve both welcomed him personally. This time, the job will fall to Deputy Prime Minister John Manley.  Liberal MPs from ridings with a large number of Italian and/or Catholic constituents are worried that such a crass snub would be embarrassing even to the Chretien government, according to CTV News, and will urge the prime minister to relent.  Father Tom Rosica, CEO and national director of World Youth Day, told CFTO he was “personally disappointed” by the decision, which he called “highly unusual.” Still, Chretien and Clarkson are being consistent in their animosity towards religion and especially the Roman Catholic moral teachings which are upheld by John Paul II.  To read CTV News coverage see: https://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20020704/pope_arrival_020703/