Some Personal Thoughts on Francis's Trip to Canada

I recently discovered that Francis gave an address to the 'Indigenous Peoples and Members of the Parish Community of Sacred Heart' in Edmonton, Alberta, or to give its full and official title according to the Archdiocese of Edmonton, Sacred Heart Church of the First Peoples. According to Vatican News, it is Canada's only 'designated Indigenous Church'.

When I lived in Edmonton, for over a year this was the Parish I attended. It was pastored then, as it is now, by Priests of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI). The OMIs were deeply involved in the conversion of the First Nations of the Prairies to the Catholic Faith.

However, by the time I attended Sacred Heart, the OMIs grasp of Catholicism had become tenuous. 

The Pastor at the time I attended the Parish was an American OMI who had been assigned to the Church years before. He was a modernist to the core. I would go to confession, only to be told that what I was confessing weren't sins, when any school boy who had ever read the Penny Catechism or Baltimore Catechism #1 knew better.

Pagan ceremonies were regularly introduced into the Mass. I once attended a funeral of an Indigenous friend in the Parish. 'Offerings' of 'sacred tobacco' (cigarettes) were placed in the coffin before it was closed.

In fact, a couple of years ago, the Church was gutted by a disastrous fire. Its cause? Well according to news reports:

Edmonton Fire Rescue has determined that smouldering sage and ashes from a traditional smudging ceremony caused a devastating fire on Aug. 30, 2020.

So, I am not in the least surprised that Francis chose Sacred Heart to give an address in support of his modernist agenda of blending the Catholic Faith with paganism.