BY FR. SHAY CULLEN
(Continued from Oct. 3, 2022)
PRIESTS and nuns paid by the Canadian government dragooned the children into strictly disciplined schools where bullying, hunger, disorientation, and hopelessness dominated their lives as they despaired of their parents’ love and care. This led to great suffering of the children that were never loved, and when they became adults, were unable to love their children sufficiently causing great social and psychological pain in disturbed, impoverished, and alienated suffering people.
The visit of Pope Francis was of huge significance, being centered on their community in Edmonton and not on the political capital in Ottawa. He gave no comfort to the political regime and church officials that covered up the historical abuse and in recent years allegedly siphoned off to their own projects the restitution money that was due to the surviving victims and their families.
Over a thousand secret graves of the abused children that died of loneliness, neglect, and abuse were discovered in recent years and previous agreements and settlements have been violated by the betrayal of political and church authorities to their eternal shame. Now, good Pope Francis had to be the one to make amends and apologize for the past wrongdoing of sinful church officials.
There was no pomp or ceremony at the airport arrival in Edmonton. He was greeted by representatives of the indigenous peoples and victims and survivors of the Residential Schools.
Pope Francis is also deeply concerned about the damaged environment of the indigenous people and global poverty. He said recently, “Exposed to the climate crisis, the poor feel even more gravely the impact of the drought, flooding, hurricanes and heat waves that are becoming ever more intense and frequent.” “Likewise, our brothers and sisters of the Native peoples are crying out. As a result of predatory economic interests, their ancestral lands are being invaded and devastated on all sides, provoking a cry that rises up to heaven.”
The indigenous peoples of the Philippines are impacted also by poverty as are millions more. Poverty is spreading everywhere. In 2021, there were an estimated 698 million poor people, or nine percent of the entire global population, surviving on less than the US $2 dollars a day, which is known as extreme poverty.
The children are the worst affected. In the Philippines, millions survive poverty in infested hovels of the poorest of the poor. Malnutrition, hunger, and unemployment turn millions of Filipinos into slaves of poverty. They survive by recooking the leftovers off the restaurant dinner plates of the rich diners. These are thrown into the garbage bags and are eagerly grabbed by the poor that boil them into a trash food called “pag-pag” and serve them up to thousands of hungry poor on the back streets of Manila.
That is one image of the harsh reality of poverty that the Marcos regime will have to confront and eradicate. As Pope Francis said, “In a world where there is so much wealth, so many resources to feed everyone, it is unfathomable that there are so many hungry children, that there are so many children without an education, so many poor persons.” A truth that none can ignore. (preda.org)/PN
