Mea culpa!

A ROMAN Catholic prelate in Canada seems to have felt the need to confess sins – his church’s, though, not his own.

He’s Cardinal Marc Ouellet, who is Archbishop of Quebec City and Primate of Canada. According to a story in the Globe and Mail, he has “admitted that some Catholics’ narrow-minded attitudes in the past bred anti-Semitism, racism and discrimination against women and homosexuals”.

His mea culpa comes in a letter to newspapers, in which he says sex scandals within the Roman Catholic church have shaken “the confidence of people towards religious authorities”. He says he recognises that priests have sexually abused children and have scolded women for not having enough children. The Globe and Mail story continues,

While some called the cardinal’s apology both unprecedented and courageous, the act of repentance by a religious leader known for his conservative views was also met by widespread skepticism. Cardinal Ouellet has faced heavy criticism since telling Quebec’s Bouchard-Taylor commission on reasonable accommodation [of minorities] last month that “secular fundamentalism” had contributed to current social ills there.

Some people, though, are saying his words don’t go far enough, “and many took him to task for acknowledging the church’s past errors – mistakes made before 1960 – while remaining silent on present church doctrine”. The Globe and Mail continues,

Observers say the cardinal decided to issue the personal apology after his comments to the travelling Bouchard-Taylor commission generated so much criticism. Some also say he’s trying to reposition the church, which has largely fallen out of favour in the secular province.

“He’s trying to get closer to people but he doesn’t know how,” said Rev. Raymond Gravel, a maverick Catholic priest who supports gay marriage and is a Bloc Québécois MP. “But neither could he do a 180-degree turn within three weeks. So he started slow by saying that he recognized the shortcomings of the past.”

However Ouellet has stopped short of addressing current criticism of the Catholic Church, says Gravel.

“I don’t doubt he is sincere but maybe he’s disconnected from real life.”

Er, well, yes – he’s a Roman Catholic priest. Wake up!