This past week saw Pope Francis visit Canada to apologize for abuses committed by Catholic clergy and laity during the Residential school era. And while owning up to past mistakes can be a noble thing, the reason why Francis is here was motivated by a lie concerning the Church’s involvement in “mass graves” of Native children. This lie was fostered and promoted by the politicians and media, and lapped up by our Church leaders. No one, of course, is interested in demanding an apology for this gross professional and political misconduct, slander, and injustice against our Catholic brothers and sisters who were innocent of this charge. There is no accountability demanded of anyone who works for the Narrative, even if they are principally at fault. Our ancestors can’t defend themselves, of course, since they’re dead. And, in this Alice-in-Wonderland reality we live in, evidence is a nice-to-have but not a must-have to make the indictment in the court of public opinion. I’ve never been a big fan of future generations apologizing for the sins of past ones. Frankly, I find it dangerous and offensive on many levels. On the other hand, demanding real evidence these days, for making wild accusations against dead Catholics or asking for proof that the vaccines are safe is, apparently, insignificant and annoying to the Boosted Man.

We are all too aware of the political climate in this country where Christian self-abasement is demanded and expected from our spiritual leaders – where a lie must be left unchallenged or uncorrected in order to keep our eyes focused on that elusive cumbaya moment. We safely throw past generations under the bus with a lie to seek after a peace and reconciliation which will, unsurprisingly, never come without the full truth. And no one, of course, wants to hear about the positive experiences of attendees of the residential schools which really does not fit the prevailing bigots’ narrative. In an age of diversity and complex realities, when it comes to dumping on the Catholic Church, it’s all still very binary indeed.

But since we’re on the topic of apologies, the proverbial elephant in the room is getting restless and wants some attention. So let us turn our attention to him before he trashes the joint.

We are living a supreme irony in 2022. We are living in an age where we lament past sins and pastoral blunders, while being completely oblivious to the fact that we are, as a Church and Society, committing the biggest medical fraud and human rights disaster in history right now! I am speaking, of course, of the vaccines and their mandates. Why is it so difficult to recognize the atrocities that we are committing when we are committing them? Why can we not hold our leaders to account who should be held to account? That includes not only science, medical, media, legal, business, and political leaders, but especially our religious ones as well. Sadly, that won’t happen while this crew is still alive. The accounting for this devastation will inevitably be kicked down the road for future governments and clerics to apologize for. As we travel that proverbial road to our “apology destination”, the number of lies which will have been told between now and then will be considerable. The number can only be outmatched by this country’s financial and moral deficit under the current sitting Prime Minister of Canada. And, of course, we will be holding “accountable” people who had nothing to do with the current madness.

The carnage that we are dealing with is truly unfathomable, and we’re just at the beginning of it. Given the sheer mind-boggling scope of the devastation, perhaps an apology would be wholly insufficient and inappropriate. Perhaps it is better for those who destroyed peoples’ lives and whose policies brought such death and devastation to simply be quiet and say nothing.

We all know who you are and what you did, or did not do or did not say. Keep your apology. But for the record, if you want something to apologize for, you need not look back decades or centuries to signal via apology how virtuous you are today. Stop pretending there isn’t something seriously wrong when you see the next “coincidental” news article appear on your social media feed. If you want to be truly virtuous, own up, right now, and repent!

There’s plenty of suffering, destruction, and death to apologize for…and right now.

In her Immaculate Heart,

John Pacheco

St. Joan of Arc Community

“The one who sins is the one who will die. The child will not share the guilt of the parent, nor will the parent share the guilt of the child. The righteousness of the righteous will be credited to them, and the wickedness of the wicked will be charged against them.” – Ezekiel 18:20