Wednesday, July 08, 2009

Media Gone Crackers

I couldn't help notice the latest 'scandal' in the Telegraph Journal. Here is a sample: "When Harper took the host, "everybody just paused and said, 'What did he do with it?'"‚" said one official who watched the pool feed with reporters who were not inside St. Thomas Church in Memramcook. "You could see he was, 'Uh oh, I don't know what to do with this.'"‚" The curiosity among Catholics has not gone unnoticed among Liberal insiders in Ottawa, either. Henneberry said he has received a call on Harper's actions from a concerned Catholic, and he doubts that she is the only one puzzled and perturbed. "She said she was very upset," he said, adding he had not seen the footage. "She said, 'All weekend long it has been bothering me and I know I can't do something about it, but someone should.' "She can't be the only one in this country that is thinking that." Why not? Is Mr Harper supposed to bow to every religion? "The issue was initially raised by Monsignor Brian Henneberry, vicar general and chancellor in the Diocese of Saint John. “It's worse than a faux pas, it's a scandal from the Catholic point of view,” he told the Saint John Telegraph-Journal." Harper's in Italy today, where their Prime Minister is accused of banging anything with a heartbeat, and our scandal consists of "Did he or did he not eat the wafer?" It's no wonder that other people see Canadians as bland and boring. I guess that's how the cookie crumbles.

13 comments:

paulm said...

Harper is not a catholic, but I am sure he is aware of the differences between his protestant evangelical views on communion v. the catholic views.

It is highly likely that he understands the catholic position, and did not wish to partake in a ritual he disagrees with, out of respect for the catholic tradition, which considers the host to literally become the body of Christ.

Patrick O'Neil said...

It sounds like he recognized he made a mistake right away, which is important.

Catholics view the Host as the body of Christ and it's a serious sacrilege to accept it in an unworthy manner.

The Prime Minister's office should issue a brief apology. Anything else would be deeply disrespectful of all Catholics.

Joe said...

From all reports I have seen no one definitively saw PM Harper pocket the Host. I would suspect that as an Evangelical Christian Harper may have paused as is the Evangelical custom upon receiving the Host to reflect on the Sacrifice made and then consumed the Host, not eaten the Host upon receiving it as is the Catholic custom.

What surprises me is that the Catholic Church offered the Host to a non Catholic.

Anonymous said...

The video seems to show him put it in his pocket - which would be an astonishing afront - but it is far from clear.

It is clear however that he reached out and took it which, though less of a concern, is still a big faux pas. And then he doesn't eat it. He walks away with it. So clearly he was aware he should not have received it. His office is saying he ate it "immediately" but clearly he did not.

Anonymous said...

OK... Let's make a big deal about this BS so we can all sound just like the radical Muslims. Maybe we should riot in the streets or burn some cars. Is there nothing more important than this going on???

Rob C

Bruce from Cambridge said...

The PM is not a Roman Catholic therefore he did the right thing by not receiving communion. In the Roman Catholic church only a confirmed Catholic can receive communion. It should not have been offered to him - the priest should have known that the PM is protestant. He would be quite right to return the wafer to the communion table.The PM did absolutely nothing wrong.

MeanOldMan said...

I think that it is a great compliment to this government that crap like this is the best they can do.
Remember the Libs being compared to the Sopranos? I'll take these faux scandals any day.

Paul MacPhail said...

Rob C, you've made a good point. Had this been a Muslim ceremony, there could very well be accusations of improprieties from Muslims; would the outcry from Christians still exist?

Anonymous said...

Evangelical? I thought PM Harper was an Anglican, not that it matters.

Joe said...

PM Harper attends the Alliance Church not the Anglican Church.

Anonymous said...

"All weekend long it has been bothering me and I know I can't do something about it, but someone should."

How pathetic!

Savant said...

We now have a 'witness' who assures that they saw Harper consume the host...

The Speaker of the Senate of Canada, the Noël A. Kinsella, (a Catholic) even issued a statement refuting the claims the Prime Minister pocketed the holy wafer: “I would like to state that I personally witnessed Prime Minister Harper consume the host that was given to him by Archbishop André Richard. Sitting only a few seats behind him I had a full view of the proceedings and clearly saw the Prime Minister accept the host after Archbishop Richard offered it. The Prime Minister consumed it.” (ref)

Anonymous said...

christian louboutin
christian louboutin shoes
christian louboutin discount
handbags
designer handbags
louis vuitton handbags
gucci handbags
discount handbags
replica handbags
Herve Leger
ugg classic tall
UGG Classic Short
UGG Ultra Tall
christian louboutin boots
discount MBT Shoes
MBT Shoes
UGG Classic Cardy
MBT Chapa shoes
MBT Sport shoes
MBT M.Walk shoes
MBT Lami shoes