House lawmakers in Delaware approved a bill yesterday that eliminated the two-year statute of limitations for victims of child sex abuse, but it does not apply to public school teachers. An attempt by Rep. Greg Lavelle to pass an amendment waiving immunity for government workers failed (he will try again). The bill now goes back to the Senate. Leading the charge to protect the teachers is Sen. Karen Peterson.

The degree of corruption in the Delaware legislature is matched only by the selective indignation its lawmakers have for child rape. The legislators are owned—lock, stock and barrel—by the teachers unions. Teachers can grope all they want. They can rape little kids. And now they will be protected by making it harder to prosecute them. Yet the most reliable data on this subject, presented by Dr. Charol Shakeshaft of Hofstra University, show that public school employees have the highest rate of child sexual abuse in the nation.

This sick game was tried last year in Colorado. Three bills were introduced trying to stick it to private institutions while giving public ones a pass; thanks to public pressure, they did not succeed. When a bill was introduced that would blanket all institutions equally, one of the lawmakers owned by the teachers unions called the Catholic Church’s bluff and said the bishops wouldn’t support it. He was wrong. And so why did the bills fail? Not because of resistance from the Catholic Church, but because of the teachers unions.

If there were a law that said Catholic teachers should get immunity from a bill that makes it easier to sue them for child sex abuse cases, there would be screaming and yelling the likes of which we’ve never heard before. But when public school teachers get the green light, all is well in the bowels of the legislature.

I guess I will start with the good news. I have been elected to the University Senate for a second term and hope to make a difference at the University of Manitoba, in representing the Faculty of Social Work.

I sit here listening to di.fm... the eurotrance music. On May 30, 2007, Kevin.. my sweet beloved Kevin, passed away in a house fire in Roblin. To this day I am still shaken and crying. Although Kevin and I broke up less than a year ago, I always care for him. He was the first boyfriend to give me a sponge bath in a shower and did in fact show genuine concern for me. I look back and can only think of positive things to say about him. He's in a better place now, but I will truly miss him... I just need time.

This month has bee nan amazingly busy month for me so far. I ended the year with an A+, A, A, and B. I am happy with my final marks. I am doing 2 courses over the summer time, which includes my field placement at the Worker's Compensation Board fo Manitoba. I've met many amazing people there. Of note is a lawyer, who's name is Holly. Her partner is a female too! Awesome stuff, and its good to see diversity in the workplace. I also got a window office, looking onto broadway, on the main floor and it the nicest office I've ever had in my working life. Now that I work downtown, I am able to visit Jamie at the remand center and give him my support and encouragement. I havea case load of 5 clients and it will be a challenge to work with one client, who is very homophobic. In my Family Diversity class, I am beginning to feel a lot more comfortable to ask questions regarding GLBTTQ issues.

On May 12, Robert was in town from Toronto and was at the house party Tom hosted. Many people came out and I had a good time. I was good to among old friends once again.

Over the course of the month, I did go to Club Regent and won and tokk home $15,000. I am thrilled and somewhat ambivalent as to what to do with the money. I have not been back and just want to relax.

My heart was truly warmed to have finally met Marco on May 11,2007, at the Winnipeg Wine Festival. He's a real cutie, and beyond that, I think he's a sweet guy. I've been chatting wih Kevin (a new Kevin), stopped chatting with another Kevin, and been chatting with Matthew. Where this will all take me? I do not know.

This weekend is the long weekend and I sadly am working every weekend all summer long :(.

It's been a while since I've made a post. I was in my last class class for the Social Aspect of Aging and the topic of discussion was death. I love my parents and they truly love me. Sadly I came a deep realization that they never will truly accpet me as a man who is attracted to another man. It truly saddens my heart and I truly do not know what to do. Life overall has been good for me. I am pleased. The few dates I've had have turned out to be only sexual in nature and my heart is somewhat broken. I just wished people would not see my as a fuck. It makes me truly sad. But I guess I can only blame myself. I wouls like to thank the following people for being at my side: Tom, Robert, Sara, Sylvia, Diane, and Jonny. Truly, without then, I would have lost much hope. Life is never easy. It get more difficuly as it progresses over a continuum. I pray that whatever life may have to offer, I may have serenity, peace, joy, good health, and happiness. I know I have been a bit a bit of a hermit and lost in a world that disinterests me, but I need to help myself so as to be able to help those I hold close to my heart.

It has been a crazy time. I have been so busy with work and school, that I have had little time for myself. I have yet to meet Kevin, Ryan, and Patrick. I have met Nathan and Jim. Both are fine individuals. I decided to go offroading on Friday night and ended up getting stuck on the road.. my front end buried in the snow. I was never so petrified. Jim was with me. How would I explain bringing a guy home and leaving the car near the river? I called Ted up and between the 3 of us.. we managed to get the car moving and back on to the road. I did nto get home till around 3:30am.

Jay ahs emailed me and he's back together with David. I wish them the best of luck and patience with eachother.

Alex got Rory into coke, since Rory has been mournign the loss of his father and inherited a substantial amount of money... but sadly... money cannot buy happiness... and so Rory is now hooked on cocaine. Treveo, Alex, Cory, Johnny, and Andrew do weed constantly at work and it somewhat saddens my heart. But they are young and I cannot predict the future, but hope and pray they may do well in life.

Dear Members of RPM,

It is my sincere wish and hope that this email reaches you in good health and spirits. Today I only want to express my sincere apology for, and insight to, the circumstances that have lead me to withdraw my membership at RPM. My heart is heavy with sorrow and sadness with the events and decisions that have transpired that have caused me to write this letter.

A couple weeks ago I was made aware of a rumor that has been going around about me. Some of you may be aware of it and some of you may not be aware of it. The rumor was exaggerated, but I will not go into the details of how the actual events may have evolved in the creative minds of others to the rumor I heard.

I was in the RPM with another individual when Mr. Focks walked in assuming there was sexual activity going on. I do not know Mr. Focks' state of mental health at the time, but Mr. Focks thought the situation was funny and hilarious, while I was completely embarrassed and felt in crisis situation. Mr. Focks went about the appropriate channels, for pure and just reasons, as would any member, to inform the leadership of RPM that I was in violation of RPM space. I was unaware of Mr. Focks reporting this to the management of RPM, until recently, since and no facilitator or co-facilitator approached me to discuss the incident. However, Mr. Focks indicated to me that he would not say anything to anyone else, and he went to say laughingly that I would not have been the first to that has done things in RPM.

I was truly embarrassed by the whole incident and was embarrassed to even come back to RPM. But I gathered up enough to keep coming to RPM, vowing never to be intimate, let alone with any person in RPM. I apologize for violating space of RPM. I know you are upset and angry with me, and writing this letter is very difficult for me. I am aware that I betrayed your trust and I am ashamed of my carelessness. RPM is not a space to be used for any perceived intimate encounters of any sort. I understand this. I pray that as group, in time you may forgive me for my actions.

I feel deeply hurt that this incident, that Mr. Fock’s promised me would be private, was indeed made public by Mr. Focks and exaggerated to an unrecognizable series of events. I do not know what the intentions of Mr. Focks were, but I can only think it was out of some malice towards me. Why else would someone begin a rumor, without prudence, if not with the intent to hurt someone else? This is an issue between Mr. Focks and myself. Consequently, I personally, have lost respect and integrity for Mr. Focks, to the degree that I cannot view him as trustworthy helper to empower individuals, such as myself, in a culture where I and people like me are all too often subjected to discrimination, inequity, disempowerment, and harm. I know integrity is not a value of our Code of Conduct and Constitution in RPM and I would firmly encourage this to be added to values of RPM.

Faced with the challenge of what to do next, I understand that by my actions, I am very much in the wrong. Do I see a resolution to this situation? Humanly speaking, I do not see how there could be complete resolution between Mr. Focks and I; beyond the initial phase of practical requests which were undertaken. I am not solely upset about the rumor itself, but rather by the time it came to me; it was greatly exaggerated of sexual acts that did not take place and I hold Mr. Focks directly accountable for this manifestation. I know I have lost credibility with the members of RPM, and I have no choice but to immediately cease my involvement with RPM. I am ashamed, embarrassed, and truly sorry for my actions. With the pain, hurt, and betrayal that I feel from Mr. Focks and the embarrassment and hurt of my wrong doing, it is best for RPM, that I no longer be affiliated with your organization. I am certain RPM will greatly benefit from this decision.

I appreciate your friendships I have made here in RPM and apologize for offending and hurting anyone. I do not even have the courage or strength to come to this meeting and I truly appreciate the member who is reading this letter to you. The men and woman, seen and unseen, that make up RPM is a truly inspiring group. I pray that you all may find comfort and support in the years to come, in whatever you decide to do and whomever you chose to be with, and be endowed with good health and an imbued spirit of peace and joy.


With the ending of this letter I leave you my official written and endorsed withdrawal from the membership of RPM.

Kind Regards,


Peter Nawrot

I had posted ap reviosu journal entry for my social work paractice course. The Prof. told me that I wrote above his level and so I have now submitted the following as a simplified version.

***

Journal 1 January 9, 2007

I was mildly moved by the first class of Introduction to Social Work Practice. I really did not know what to expect from the class. There are a few key points that I did learn in class and will be sharing in this journal.

1. The listening assessment exercise really reminded how many factors we have to take into consideration when we listen to other people. Although I scored high on the assessment and I thought that perhaps I may have over rated myself; that did not seem to be the case. My listening skills were put to the test when I interviewed a colleague of mine in class. She was amazed when I presented my description of her. She even stated in class, “I did not think you got all information on me”. Although my interview with her was relaxed and comfortable, I did manage to record and present the information that was communicated to me. I felt a lot more confident with the listening assessment results after I completed the interview. The listening assessment exercise really reminded how many factors we have to take into consideration when we listen to other people. Although I scored high on the assessment and I thought that perhaps I may have over rated myself; that did not seem to be the case. My listening skills were put to the test when I interviewed a colleague of mine in class. She was amazed when I presented my description of her. She even stated in class, “I did not think you got all information on me”. Although my interview with her was relaxed and comfortable, I did manage to record and present the information that was communicated to me. I felt a lot more confident with the listening assessment results after I completed the interview. Listening to clients is very important. In an age when we as human being as overwhelmed with distraction and so much information, it can be truly hard to listen. Listening is a skill that requires practice and full consideration. In my own social work practice I must remember that my peers, more often than not, are wounded healers. Just as my clients want me to listen to them, so too I must listen to my peers. My own personal experiences, although valid, must never enter into the realm of social work practice. The energy, passion, and drive may be formidable, but it would lead to the greater harm than good for the clients I serve.

I really enjoy the group discussion that occurs in class. Social Work is about people. And I find it a very empowering exercise to be able to literally put theory and instruction into practice with our own peers. I am of the opinion that by having group discussions that, with the wealth of knowledge and wisdom that exists in the class, a sole theory based lecture class would not allow for application of the theories presented.

2. From the brief assessment we were required to do in class, the end results indicated that I am more of a thinker and reflector, with the greater focus on being a thinker. I am a critical thinker and like to analyze and synthesize things. In addition to be being a thinker I am also a reflector. The aspect I like about being a reflector is that their philosophy is to be cautious, while on the other hand as a thinker I use rationality and logic.

Consequently, as a logical and rational thinker, I am able to separate emotion from event and present a different aspect and dimension for my clients. As a reflector I am cautious, so I do not react on emotion as so many others tend to do. I tend to collect data from all sides and validate people’s emotions and experiences on the one hand, and present them with different points of view on the other hand, to enable them to re-examine and contextualize their experiences along a continuum. Even for the learning preferences, I can see myself not having a resolute and definitive learning preference and over a continuum it may change and I may adapt to other learning preferences. The various preferences may indeed come into conflict with each other, although that is not the intent and in some way or fashion we all to a greater or lesser degree a sensor, reflector, thinker, and actor. Social Work practice is in need of a diversified learning preference group, because if we were all thinkers and reflectors, social work would be minimized to a bureaucratic and philosophical government think tank with no energy and action to help those that are in need.

For my own social work practice it is very important for me to realize that our field deals with and is composed of people who have different learning preferences. As a thinker practitioner, on the one hand, and as an actor client, on the other hand, I may in fact have challenges in communication and learning with a mosaic people along a continuum.

3. I also and reminded of the value of different resources within the class. I was amazed by the wealth of experience and skills people from the class have brought and share with each other. Although most experiences were positive, enlightening, moving and inspirational on the one hand, I am reminded that on the other hand, that many clients and peers may also have stories and experiences which are not as rich and inspirational. An as much as I may think I bring a great wealth of knowledge and experience, as do the clients and my fellow workers.

4. I also and reminded to recognize that that diversity exists everywhere. Diversity is word that is used very broadly, but within the differences that each of us have; it seems as if we share a lot more in common with each other than initially regarded. Within the diverse culture and developmental experiences of the human person, it is critical for me to note that it is these very differences that have formed and molded a person’s life to the current state of being.

Journal 2 January 16, 2007

This journal will be a reflection of the ideas from the readings (Chapter 2) that I feel are important to my understanding of social work. I was absent for this class.

1. Charity practices and settlement houses were two separate movements. With a common shared goal, the two movements had a completely different approach. The charity movement is based on religious principles of helping the poor and weak. In the charity movement and its ideology, the pathology was traced back to the individual person and their ability or lack of ability to adjust to their surroundings.

2. The settlement workers identified poor working conditions and unhealthy living environments. From this ideology, new ideas were promoted, such as worker’s compensation, unions, social insurance, and public and universal health insurance. Much of the settlement movement was community orientated and did use individual pathology as in the charity movement.

I do not believe that social work practice must exclusively conform to a model of charity or settlement workers. The flaw of the charity movement rest is the fact that it does not validate the effect of the environment on a person’s ability to function within society. On the other hand, the settlement worker’s movement does not place responsibility on the individual. The most important question concept to try to understand is at what point do individual people empower or dis-empower themselves by the choices they make? Ultimately, if we believe in human freedom, expression and free choice, the sole responsibility and power of the human being is from within.

Charity will always be needed and the environmental changes and policies are critical. These must be pursued with a genuine willingness to help. There is an ancient analogy of a single ant that conquered an elephant. In the work that you have done for the organization, you are like the ant that with hard work, dedication, and perseverance has continued to bring down the elephant of injustice, inequality, and hatred. Although many people take the work of social workers for granted and the social workers are not always acknowledged; their work is in pursuit of a better life for the clients they serve. Like the charity workers, who with, faithfulness, enlightened competence, dedication and love have devoted their work for the poor. The charity movement has made an extra-ordinary difference in many people’s lives in the ordinary things that were done for them. To this day, social workers and charities carry out the task of helping the poor with generous dedication.

3. As social work has evolved “Canadian social work was influences by several, sometimes divergent disciplines” (page 20). At the end of this past millennia many of the once so promising models of society have collapsed. These very models have found their way into social work. Such models have included Marxism, psychoanalysis, post modernism, and a movement towards a secularized society rooted in anthropocentric relativism. I feel we are moving towards a culture of self estrangement from the roots we come from. I only express hope in my thoughts. I believe that the internal dead end and contradictions, as well as internal falsity of suck theories will continue to emerge. Many theories that seemed so logical and compelling, and therefore could exercise such fascination, especially because it was associated with a moral ethics, simply does not correspond to the reality of the human person and the world they live in.

As capitalism evolves and progresses, at its current rate, the economic and political situation continues to worsen, there is no great awakening in the sense that people are now saying: “We need more government spending on social welfare programs to counter act the unbalancing nature of capitalism”. Rather a new weariness is setting in the souls of many people, a dissipation, a resignation: hopelessness increases. The mere failure of preceding ideologies does not necessarily lead to a rebirth of communal values in a world that is all too often one of subjective individual relativism. Disappointment settles in and can lead to further collapse, but can also lead to an openness so that people may be touched by a helping hand of another human being and regeneration can occur.

4. The future is unknown. “The future is difficult to predict”(page 23). Regardless of our ideological stance, the task, as difficult as it may be, is one of mutual collaboration and support for the clients we serve and the people we meet in our life journey. “Future employment growth in the social services sector will continue to be a balancing act between societal needs and public policies as to how best it meet these needs.” (page 23). As a social worker I must find comfort and support in the years to come, and be endowed with good health, an imbued spirit of peace and joy, and be accompanied by the constant assurance of my peers’ esteem and affection.

Journal 3 January 23, 2007

This journal will be a reflection of the ideas from the readings (Chapter 3) that I feel are important to my understanding of social work. I was absent for this class.

1. The 3 most important values for me center around limits to self determination, values and culture, and human rights. The values that I find most important to me are: Respect for the Inherent Dignity and Worth of Persons, Service to Humanity, and Pursuit of Social Justice.

2. Social work is founded on a long-standing commitment to respect the inherent dignity and individual worth of all persons and this is perhaps the most important core value I personally find unshakeable root in. When required by law to override a client’s wishes, social workers take care to use the minimum coercion required. Social workers recognize and respect the diversity of Canadian society, taking into account the breadth of differences that exist among individuals, families, groups and communities. Social workers uphold the human rights of individuals and groups as expressed in The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (1982) and the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948).

Amongst social work practitioners there is an unsettling individualistic ideology. Broad circles within social work seem to have forgotten that the subject who pursues social work is not the individual practitioner, but the Social Work community as a whole and the people it serves. From this forgetfulness of social work as social service derives a social work pluralism, that in reality is often a subjectivism and individualism that has little to with the bases of the origins and history of social work. In doing so, many efforts have often contributed more to the aggravation n than to the resolution of the crisis. It would be unjust to generalize this affirmation, but it would also be wrong purely and simply to deny it. The reality is that not all social workers are bound in any way to the Social Work values.

3. It is also essential to be aware that the values we hold as individuals can come to the greater harm of the clients we serve. Consequently as social workers we must develop solutions that set aside values and perceptions that may be of bias to our clients, that may lead us to judge our clients without a correct and diversified context. I think there are universal truths of humanity, and broad values of humanity that cannot be ignored. I am of the opinion that the temptation to throw out universal values in a post modern way, behind the well intentioned ideology of non-judgmental diversity leads to greater harm than good.

4. According to the text book ideology is important to practice. Ideology is “important because it influences our approach to practice. Ideology shapes values, assumptions about social issues and how they affect people” (pages 30,31). Values and ideologies are essential in the process of the empowerment of our clients. Without any values or ideologies, there would be an absence of social work. Regardless of the differences of individual and communal responsibility for problems and solutions, we cannot ignore the reality of the problems we face.

5. I am reminded that we cannot succumb to the popular idea that “we can solve all problems with a little good will”. The role of government and government ideology is critical in the services and support we can offer our clients. The political agenda of the government guides how we as social workers can support our clients. It is critical for us to understand the political ideology of the government so we can work within the system to help the people we serve. This may at time, more often than not, cause us to come in direct conflict with the government. Such conflict is necessary. Without it, there would be no change and the status quo, which supports the current models of oppression will continue.

Journal 4 January 30,2007

This journal will be a reflection of the ideas from the readings (Chapter 4) that I feel are important to my understanding of social work.

1. As a policy activist and analyst it is my role to look at the symptoms associated with diversity within society are not foreign, and sadly, although increasingly more common, many policies are still stigmatized and a pathology of sorts has been developed to explain the differences in diversity rather than the common things that unite in humanity. More importantly, the question is how can we as social workers ease the hardships and struggles of the clients we serve who find themselves at odds within the reality they exist. As an example, with the increasing social acceptance diverse family structures and the redefinition of family, families continue to emerge and redefine themselves. And this redefinition persists despite the fact that, while our society is changing, the combined forces of parenting, peers, conflicting religious groups, and the mass media endorse a classical family definition and stigmatize the modern diverse families. These forces are relentless, formidable, and prevalent. “Everyone, social workers and clients included, has the right and sometimes the responsibility to influence the policy process.” (page 71).

2. As an evaluator I would evaluate the progress of a client or program within the scope of a clinical evaluation or program evaluation. If I worked for an agency I would conduct a program evaluation whereby I would find out how many clients used the services; what workers saw as achievements; how much money was spent; whether clients were satisfied with the services, program, agency; and other criteria. It would be my hope that the results of the evaluation would conform to the needs of those who use the program as well as to the values of the agency I work for as well as the values of social work.

3. As a counselor and therapist, case manager, and group worker it is critical to understand relationships and attachment theory. The most important aspect of grass root micro level work with a client is empowerment. Empowerment takes place in the form of individual counseling to group empowerment of individuals who share a common existence, experiences, history, and group memberships based on Systems Theory. I think that by focusing on a client’s or group strength and power and being able to still be here is important in addressing the issues they otherwise see as impossible. In a powerful and relentless culture that promotes negative attitudes and a covertly unattainable ideal, a new weariness is setting in the souls of many people, a dissipation, a resignation of not being able to reach the ideal. Hopelessness and inferiority increases. Social exclusion may even result. Many people feel powerless. Consequently it is imperative to recognize the strengths of the person and allow them to realize their own strength and power to self determination and self actualization.

4. The roles of the social worker are not limited to the micro and mezzo system or counsellor, therapist, or case manager. The roles of the social worker are multileveled and complicated extending through to the macro systems. As this can be viewed as very empowering on one hand, it can lead to a grave hemorrhage of spirit and will, on the other hand. In a democratic society whereby votes are cast and consensus is made, I am reminded that votes do not bring about truth and the just way of doing things. Doing things otherwise is alien to many people. An so the social worker, with all their roles, who’s roles are not based on the consent of the majority, but rather on the representation of values of an agency appears as something foreign and distant and even incomprehensible. Under these circumstances there is a great temptation to pass and set aside values, to a much more natural value system and services based on coordination of consensus, because it is only human and more in line with modern culture.

And so the role of a social worker passes from a role to counter act inequity to a role in line with the “democratic” mechanisms of consensus formation based on secular, capitalistic, democratic pluralist society. And so there is a temptation to flee and be liberated from hierarchical structures and codes and values toward the more plausible character of human democratic organization. An example of this would be a social workers who’s counseling transforms almost exclusively into a conversation, into a kind of therapeutic self analysis between two persons on the same level. That seems to be much more human, more personal and more adapted to the modern person. But this kind of counseling incurs the risk, when the worker and client boundaries are blurred and the worker jeopardizes their role as an agent of the state, who may have to exercise powers contrary to popularly held views of a democratic society, while at the same time respecting confidentiality.

The Catholic Church in Canada has a young history that spans a little over 400 years. The French version of the national Anthem says that our country "knows how to carry the sword and the cross." The origins of Canada are certainly marked by the efforts of the Catholic Church, much more so than by the military exploits of the Royal French Armies in North America. The role of the Catholic Church in the New World was of the utmost importance to both the colonizer and the colonized. However, too often, it has been seen in a generalized role where the church and state acted hand in hand, without differentiation between areas, religious orders, and ecclesiastical authority. On closer inspection it can be seen that the Church was often at odds with the state, local elites, and even those they sought to convert. In addition there were battles between the different orders, between bishops and laity, and between the secular church and missionaries. The Catholic Church has played an important role in the social developments of Canada. From the time of the pioneers to modern time, the activism and message of the Church can be viewed on two planes. The first is that the Catholic Church been a constant beacon of hope in a world of turmoil, suffering and pain. The second is that the Catholic Church, in a self interested way, was an agent of colonization and responsible for the evil aftermaths of colonization that continue to linger within our modern day. In order to understand the role of the Catholic Church in Canadian Society, it is imperative to understand the times gone by to better understand the current times.

The power of the Catholic Church is seen from the very beginnings of the New World. To be able to understand the colonization of Canada, one must understand the ideology and roots of Colonization. Columbus set forth believing himself to be ordained by God in his purpose. His goal was supposedly “...to propagate His holy name and His Gospel throughout the universe.”, but as Todorov points out spiritual expansion is tied to material conquest. (Todorov,1984, pp.10,44) The Catholic Church had begun issuing papal bulls in 1452 which granted rights and privileges in order to promote missionary activity. (Las Casas, p.15) The American continent was “bestowed” by God (through the Pope) upon the Spanish and Portuguese.(Todorov,1984, p.147)

Hernan Cortes, the Spanish Conqueror of Mexico, considered it vital that the Indians subjected themselves not only to the Spanish throne but also to the “mysteries of Christ” (Portilla,1992, p.58). This was important as the Church had ruled that enslavement and war could only be made on groups that had rejected the Gospel (Portilla, 1992). When encountering a people the Requerimiento was to read to them. The Requerimiento, which is translated to “requirement" or “demand”, was a declaration of Spanish sovereignty and war. It was read by Spanish military forces to assert their sovereignty over the Americas. It was written by the council to King Ferdinand; Juan López de Palacios Rubios. It was used to justify the assertion that God, through Jesus Christ and His Papal successors, held authority as ruler over the entire Earth. In addition to this, the Inter Caetera, (a Papal Bull of 4 May 1493 by Pope Alexander VI), conferred title over the Americas to the Spanish monarchs. Afterwards, if the aboriginals still chose not to submit to God's will, violence was permissible. This was regardless of whether the people actually understood what was being communicated to them.

Catholicism took root in Canada with the arrival in the new world by of the Europeans. On July 7, 1534, on the shores of the Gaspé Peninsula, a French priest accompanying the explorer Jacques Cartier celebrated Mass for the first time on what was to become Canadian territory. For the first few decades of New France’s existence, there were only a few dozen settlers there in comparison to the English colonies to the south were much more populous and wealthy. Cardinal Richelieu, Prime Minister and adviser to King Louis XIII, wished to make New France as significant as the English colonies.

Samuel de Champlain was named Governor of New France. “Being a fervent Catholic he wished to spread the blessings of the Faith among the pagan savages of the country.” (Fournet, 1908). Indians had to be Christian before they could even be considered human. This is highlighted when Spanish Conqueror of Mexico, Hernan Cortes, wrote of Indian temples as Mosques. He attempted superimposing of the Christian faith on local religions by “cleansing” temples of idols and substituting Christian icons. (Cortes, p.91) Idols were broken in public in an attempt to break the Indians spirit. The Colonization Movement insisted on their religion of monotheism, and convinced many Indians to accept the Christian God. However this brought about the first contradictions in the spiritual conquest. It is highly probable that the Indians converted to appease the Colonists and fur traders because they saw the Colonist’s God as more powerful than their own, or in their own polytheistic sense. Conversion brought a disruption of lifestyles within the Aboriginal Nations. This brings forth the theory that for Indians, the battle was viewed as cosmic and not only earthly. The fight was between the Colonist and Indian Gods, and the most powerful would prevail.

Cardinal Richelieu forbade non-Roman Catholics from living in New France. Protestants were required to renounce their faith to establish themselves in New France. Many chose, instead, to move to the English colonies. The Roman Catholic Church, and missionaries such as the Recollet Franciscans and the Jesuits, became firmly established in the territory. In 1615, Many French religious congregations sent men and women to New France to preach the Gospel, beginning a major missionary initiative. The Recollect Franciscans, the Jesuits, the Sulpician Fathers, the Ursulines, the Hospitaliars of Saint-Joseph and the Augustinians came and founded schools, established hospitals and opened seminaries.

The Franciscans, Dominicans, and Jesuits all fought each other, and the secular church, for power, prestige and souls. Each was different, and tended to dominate in different areas. The Franciscans adopted a paternalistic relationship with their Indians and took up a protector role in the spirit of Bartolome de Las Casas (1484-1566) urgings. Las Casas has been called the Father of anti-imperialism, anti-racism and an energetic advocate and activist for the rights of native peoples. The Dominicans were an order whose friars committed themselves to conversion in the New World with as much zeal as they had to persecution in the Old World. It is of important note that the Dominican Order was very involved in the Roman and Spanish Inquisition in Europe. The Jesuits, as a teaching order, sough to build schools and educate the colonists and converts.

The religious orders worked well together, however their efforts were thwarted in a measure by spirit of gain and capitalism of the Merchant Company to which the King of France had conceded the colony. In 1627, Cardinal Richelieu and King Louis XIII founded the Company of One Hundred Associates also known as the Company of New France to invest in New France. The pledge of the company was "to bring the peoples inhabiting Canada to a knowledge of God and to instruct them in the Catholic, Apostolic, Roman Religion" (Fournet, 1908). The company promised land parcels to hundreds of new settlers and to turn Québec into an important mercantile and farming colony, ensuring that not only the State benefited, but that the Roman Catholic Church would as well.

Cardinal Richelieu also introduced the Seigneurial System, a semi-feudal system of farming that remained a characteristic feature of the St. Lawrence valley until the 19th century. The first colonists in Canada settled along the great rivers, especially the St. Lawrence. Each family was to clear a strip of land beginning at the river, leaving intact the interior forest. By 1835, the population was outgrowing sustainability and excess colonists began to emigrate to the southern British colonies of the Americas. The clergy organized people to keep on their own land. “The colonizing priest is a type found only in Canada” (Fournet, 1908). Priests and religious directed and helped the settlers.

By 1629, Quebec fell into the hands of David Kertk, who was battling for English interests. All the missionaries returned to France. Canada belonged to England until 1632, when the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye restored it to France. Cardinal Richelieu allowed the Jesuits to return to Canada to resume their missions. Samuel de Champlain, the governor, and Jean Lauson, president of the Company of the Hundred Associates lent them all possible aid. For more than thirty years (1633-1664) the missionaries toiled and sacrificed which resulted in the baptism of children in danger of death and the conversion of some adults. The difficulty in religious conversion of the natives was that, while some tribes, like the Hurons, lived close to trading posts and could be converted, many tribes were nomadic and it was difficult to convert them. “These wandering Indians must be induced to group themselves in villages near the French settlements, where they could be protected from hostile invasion and be taught to lead an industrious and settled life” (Fournet, 1908). Two settlements were made on this plan. One was at Three Rivers and one near Quebec. In 1640, a new mission was opened at Tadousac, and it soon became a centre of Catholic evangelization.

About this time nursing sisters of the congregation of Augustines of the Mercy of Jesus and the first Ursulines arrived in Quebec from France to work in the colony hospital endowed by The Duchesse d'Aiguillon, a niece of Cardinal Richelieu. The Ursulines devoted themselves to the education of girls. These heroic women vied with one another in their zeal for the conversion of the savages. Meanwhile, the Company of Associates paid no more regard to its obligations than had its predecessors. It attracted few colonists, did nothing towards the civilization of the Indians, and showed no interest in the spread of the Faith. On the other hand the Iroquois were attacking the settlers and hindering new settlers from coin got New France. In 1641 Governor de Montmagny had to conduct a campaign against them. The Company of Montreal was formed, which proposed, without laying any burden on the king, the clergy, or the people "to promote the glory of God and the establishment of religion in New France". (Fournet, 1908). During this time two important Canadian religious orders were founded: the Sisters of the Congregation of Notre Dame, by Saint Marguerite Bourgeoys in 1658, and the Grey Nuns, by Saint Marguerite d’Youville in 1737. The Iroquois continued to attack New France and the Hurons.

In 1658, Jesuit Fr. François Xavier de Laval-Montmorency was named Apostolic Vicar for Canada, and later became the first Bishop in North America and the first Bishop of Quebec in 1674. He was responsible for most of the territory that today covers Canada and the United States. There were martyrs in the early Church of the new world: six Jesuits and two lay associates were killed between 1642 and 1649. Bishop François Xavier de Laval-Montmorency was the chief religious authority in New France from 1659 to 1684. Since New France was a Catholic colony, the clergy had charge of education, hospitals, and welfare; and the state enforced tithes and gave the church land and money in exchange for the services rendered. The year 1659 marked the beginning of the ecclesiastical hierarchy in Canada. Up to that time the missionaries regarded themselves first as directly dependent on Rome and afterwards for some time as under the authority of the Archbishop of Rouen. Consequently, any decision that was made by the Archbishop of Rouen was never called into question his authority. This led to the problem of Gallicanism which pitted Rome against Paris-as to who would control the Church of France, the pope or the king. From Rome’s perspective, Bishop François Xavier de Laval-Montmorency was named bishop directly by Pope Alexander VII, and not by the king as was the rule in France since the agreement of 1516. The Catholic Church of Canada was therefore, right from the outset, closely attached to the papacy.

The new bishop encountered many difficulties. Bishop François Xavier de Laval-Montmorency had to battle the fur traders who obtained the precious beaver pelts in exchange for alcohol. This trade caused a great deal of harm to the Indian population, and seriously hindered the missionaries' efforts. The colony's governor normally had a vested interest in the fur trade, and so did nothing to stop the immoral traffic. Bishop François Xavier de Laval-Montmorency courageously sided with the Indians against the traders. The Church braved the disfavour of those in power rather than surrender the interests of souls and of Christian morality. He was a sort of “Las Casas of the North”, (Dupuis, 2000), but he unfortunately lost this battle. Bishop François Xavier de Laval-Montmorency frequently struggled with the governor of New France regarding the mission of the church, the governance, and protection of New France. As long as the bishop opposed the sale of alcohol the natives, the government diminished its support of church based institutions and activities.

After the two campaigns against the Iroquois (1665-66), New France began to grow as did social need. This increase necessitated more clergy as well as a better arrangement of parishes. In 1672 outside of Quebec the parishes numbered twenty-five, each with a resident priest. To provide for the support of the clergy the bishop imposed a tax on the faithful, which by an act of 1663 was fixed at a thirteenth part of the crops; later this was reduced to one twenty-sixth. The King of France agreed to make up the rest. The parish priests then formed with the seminary of Quebec a sort of corporation, the respective rights and duties of whose members were legally established. The progress of the missions had not ceased between 1660 and 1680. Jesuit missionaries continued to set up missions in the south of New France, spreading to the west and north and made it as far as Hudson Bay. During this development of the missions, in 1674, Bishop Laval requested from Pope Clement X to make Quebec an Episcopal see. This meant that New France would no longer be linked with the Episcopacy of Church of France, but rather directly to Rome as an independent Episcopal See. Bishop Laval maintained a struggle against Governor Frontenac for the rights of the Church and the prohibition of the sale of liquors to the Indians. In 1684 he placed his resignation in the hands of Louis XIV, who was more interested in the profits of the fur trade than the morality of selling alcohol to the Indians.

In the meantime, England cast it eyes on the colony of New France. After the close of the seventeenth century there was scarcely any emigration from the mother country to New France, and was forced to rely on her own resources for her preservation and growth. Her population, which in 1713 was 18,000, had increased to 42,000 by 1739, the year of the last census taken under French administration. The population of New France was small in comparison the New England Colony who numbered 262,000 in 1706.

Bishop Laval was succeeded by Bishop Saint-Vallier, to whom Quebec owes the foundation of its General Hospital, a work of no little labor and expense. Bishop Saint-Vallier converted to the seminary built by his predecessor, which was being used for community functions, to exclusive use for the education of the clergy. After making rich donations to the religious establishments of Quebec, Bishop Saint-Vallier died in 1727. His successor was Bishop Duplessis-Mornay, whom infirmities prevented from coming to Canada. Bishop Dosquet, his coadjutor and administrator from 1729, succeeded him in 1733, and worked hard for education and for the increase of religious communities. The education of girls was in the hands of the Ursulines, who had one boarding -school at Quebec and another at Three Rivers, and of the Sisters of the Congregation of Notre Dame, of Montreal, who had fourteen houses. Primary instruction for boys was conducted by male teachers. Prematurely exhausted by the harshness of the Canadian climate, Bishop Dosquet resigned his office and left Canada. His successor, Bishop Lauberivi, died on his arrival at Quebec, a victim of his devotion to the sick soldiers on the voyage from France. New France as a colony of New France ended with Bishop Pontbriand (1741-1760). He helped and supported the Ursulines of Three Rivers and the Hospital of Quebec on the occasion of disastrous fires.

On 10 February, 1763, the Treaty of Paris was signed, ceding Canada to England, closing for the Church in Canada the period of establishment and settlement, and opening the period of conflict and development. At the time of the Treaty of Paris, the Catholic population of Canada, all of French descent, scarcely numbered 70,000. Abandoned by their civil rulers and representatives, who had returned to France, they owed to their clergy the preservation of their Faith and in great measure the recovery of their political, civil, and social rights. While the clauses of the Treaty of Paris were still under discussion a memorial had been laid before the French ambassador in London concerning the religious affairs of Canada. This demanded, among other things, security for the Church and Chapter of Quebec. The intentions of the British Government were quite different. It proposed to substitute the Anglican hierarchy for the Catholic, and English Protestantism for Catholicism. The government policy was especially active against the young, who were to be educated in schools of a marked Anglican tone. New France sent a deputation to King George III, to demand the maintenance of their ecclesiastical organization and to complain of violations of the Treaty of Paris, which assured them religious liberty.

In the meantime the Chapter of Quebec proceeded to elect M. de Montgolfier, superior of the Sulpician Religious Order of Montreal, as bishop. The English authorities refused consent to his consecration. Oliver Briand, vicar general to Bishop Pontbriand, was then consecrated with the unexpressed consent of the Government, which always refused him the title of Bishop, which it reserved for the head of the Anglican hierarchy. Instead of using the title of bishop the Government used the term Superintendent of Catholic Worship. The communities of men, Recollects, Jesuits, and Sulpicians, were forbidden to take new members in Canada, or to receive members from abroad. They were marked out for extinction, and the State declared itself heir to their property. The English confiscated the goods of the Franciscans and Jesuits in 1774, and granted the religious modest pensions. The British Government relaxed its zeal to wipe out the catholic presence in favor of the victims of the French Revolution, and opened Canada as a place of refuge for persecuted French priests.

The British American colonies were threatening revolt. England realized that she must conciliate the Canadians at any cost, and by the Quebec Act of 1774 she granted them many liberties hitherto withheld or suppressed. The Americans were unable to induce the French Canadians to take part in the American Revolution, and Montgomery's invasion (1775) ended at Quebec. Led by Bishop Briand, the champions of loyalty were the Catholic priests, whom Great Britain had up to this time regarded with suspicion. Bishop Briand resigned in 1784. By this time Catholics numbered 130,000. There were also Irish Catholics in the Maritimes and Bishop Hubert saw it necessary to creating new diocese. The constitutional Act of 1791, granted Canada a constitutional government, and divided the country into two provinces, Upper and Lower Canada, each having a governor, an assembly, and a legislative council. Concerning the French Catholic inhabitants of Lower Canada the Act read: "All possible care must be taken to ensure them the enjoyment of the civil and religious rights guaranteed them by the terms of the capitulation of the province, or since accorded them by the liberal and enlightened spirit of the British Government" (Christie, p.16; Pagnuelo, p.69).

During the episcopates of Bishop Denaut (1797-1806) and Bishop Octave Plessis (1806-1825), Catholics were being assaulted on 2 fronts by Anglican Protestantism. Under the name of "Royal Institution" Dr. Mountain, the Anglican Bishop of Quebec, devised a plan whereby all educational authority would be controlled by the governor. The result would be that the entire educational system would be withdrawn from the Catholic clergy and fall under Protestant government control. The Catholic bishops were struggling with the movement which threatened to reduce the Church, as in England, to a “docile instrument of the Government” (Fournet, 1908). Witzius Ryland, secretary to the governors of Canada from 1790 to 1812, created a policy, resulting in the confiscation of all ecclesiastical property and the exclusion of Catholicism from its dominant position. “It was to be treated as a dissenting sect, tolerated by the condescension of the authorities” (Fournet, 1908). The War of 1812 broke out between Great Britain and the United states. Bishop Plessis took the same stand as Bishop Briand thirty years before. He did all in his power to maintain the loyalty of Catholics and to promote the defense of Canada. When the American invasion had been repelled, the governor, Sir George Prévost, felt that a renewal of the earlier conflict between Anglicanism and Catholicism would not benefit the Government of Canada. Sir George Prévost conceded to the Bishop and his successors the official recognition of the title of Catholic Bishop of Quebec (1813), and granted them a yearly stipend of $5000. From 1814 to 1820, the Catholic Church enjoyed a certain degree of favor from the government and was able to expand into Upper Canada, the Maritimes, and Northwest. In 1819, The Bishop of Quebec was given the title of Archbishop, with auxiliary bishops, to assist him.

In 1818, a priest of the Diocese of Quebec, the Abbé Provencher, founded on the banks of the Red River the first Western Canadian missions beyond what was considered modern day civilization.In 1820, the episcopal district of the Red River was established which, in 1871, became the Archdiocese of Saint-Boniface. This was the start of a large missionary endeavour by the Oblates of Mary Immaculate in Western and Northern Canada, particularly among the Aboriginal peoples, a work that continues to this day. The attention and favor given to the Catholic Church in Canada upset a group of Protestants who found support in Mr. Ellice and succeeded in 1822, to have a bill brought before the House of Commons in London, England. Mr. Parker, who was a rival to Mr. Ellice, informed Bishop Plessis of the bill going before the House of Commons in London, England. Bishop Plessis and the clergy drew up protests, and a petition with 60,000 signatures, which was sent to London. Their mission was successful, and the bill was withdrawn.

The Canadian population continued to increase. In 1832 the French Canadians alone numbered 380,000. (Fournet, 1908). Schools were being built and Lower Canada was prospering. “The Archdiocese of Kingston was established in 1826, Toronto in 1841 and Ottawa in 1847. In 1841, the Act of Union gave the Church in Canada full legal standing” (CCCB, 2007). An outbreak of cholera killed many in Lower Canada. A second outbreak of cholera occurred in 1834, killed many French Canadians. The Rebellions of 1837 and 1838 , brought even more hardship upon Canada. Quebec was reduced to a mass of ruins in 1845 from several horrific fires. In 1847 typhus fever, brought by the Irish immigrants, added more tragedy to the growth and development of Canada.


Bishop Plessis died Primary schools multiplied everywhere, promoted by the Educational Society (Société d'éducation) of Quebec and by the law of the parish schools (Ecoles de fabrique). Colleges for secondary instruction were founded wherever needed, and several episcopal sees were erected: Kingston (1826), Charlottetown (1829), and Montreal (1836). In all these movements Bishop Panet (1825-32), successor to Bishop Plessis, took a leading part. He died the year of the cholera, which carried off 4000 in five weeks, and was succeeded by Bishop Signay, whose episcopate was marked by several calamities: a second scourge of the cholera (1834); civil war (1837-38); disastrous fires which reduced Quebec to a mass of ruins (1845); and the typhus fever brought by the Irish immigrants, driven from their country by the terrible famine and evictions of 1847. A major development around this time was the issue of the Sulpician Order and its valuable holding of property and education institutions in Montreal. In 1829, Queen Victoria, by an ordinance of the Privy Council, declared the Seminary of Saint-Sulpice the lawful owner of its holdings, an act of justice which permitted the Sulpicians to continue their beneficent work. They were able to continue their work in Church of Notre Dame and Notre Dame College. At this time the Brothers of the Christian Schools were brought to Canada.
In 1840 the union of Upper and Lower Canada was finally realized, although tensions remained high. The goal was to make Lower Canada a subject to Upper Canada. The clash was viewed categorically, but unified as, French to English, Catholic to Protestant, and Quebec to Ontario. Lord Elgin, the Governor Canada, granted in an act of 1851, religious freedom to all Canadians. The act was issued by the King of Great Britain and published in the Canadian press on June 1, 1852. The act formally stated that the "free exercise and enjoyment of profession and religious worship, without distinction or preference, are permitted by the constitution and laws of this province of Canada to all the subjects of His Majesty in the said province" (Fournet, 1908). The fifteen years that followed the Act of Union were very productive for Canadian Catholicism. The Church was established in Canada, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, with the erection of dioceses in St. John’s in 1784, Halifax in 1842, and Victoria in 1846 followed by Vancouver in 1873. The Oblate Fathers of Mary Immaculate, wanted to repeat the success of the Jesuit Fathers in he 17th century by heading west and working amongst the indigenous people. During this time, many religious orders flourished and grew within Canada. The Jesuit Fathers continued their work in education and were allowed to come back to Canada in 1842. In this period many religious orders were founded at Montreal. They included the Sisters of Providence (1843), the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary (1843), the sisters of Mercy (1848), the sisters of St. Anne (1850); at Quebec, the Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (1850).

The First Council of Quebec was held in 1851 with regional bishops in attendance. This council celebrated the missions and the institution of parochial retreats. It also looked into the adoption of a school system that assured separate primary and normal schools for Catholics and Protestants. The conference called for activism for the moderate use and consumption of alcohol and the founding of societies for the suppression of alcoholism. The Council also established the Society for the Propagation of the Faith and the Work of the Holy Childhood within Canada and colonization societies to increase the population of Canada. Within a span of fifteen years, the population of Catholic students attending school rose from 3000 students to 127,000. New centres of secondary education opened: the Colleges of Joliette (1846), Saint-Laurent (1847), Rigaud (1850), Sainte-Marie de Monnoir (1853), and Lévis (1853). In 1854 the Laval University in Quebec was inaugurated as a Catholic university. This was also due to the Canadian clergy. “Laval University had already proved its worth and accomplished much good when it was canonically established by a Bull of Pius IX in 1876” (Fournet, 1908). In 1854, At the Second Council of Quebec the bishops promulgated disciplinary regulations concerning primary schools, secret heretical societies, consumption of alcohol, educational institutions, politics, erroneous Bibles, immoral books, and parochial libraries.

Prior to the confederation of the Canadian Provinces in 1867, New Brunswick legislation allowed for the establishment of religious schools. This privilege was abolished in 1871 by the Provincial Legislature. The Catholics within New Brunswick had not choice but to send their children to public schools or to pay a double school tax. Consequently, they appealed to the Federal parliament and Sir John MacDonald, and failed. Bishops Sweeney and Rogers organized for resistance and opposition to the tax collectors. This convinced the Protestants in power that a satisfactory agreement had to be reached. By 1874, the law was not repealed, but many concessions were made to restore peace. A parallel act of injustice was done against the rights of Manitoban Catholics in 1890. The British North America Act, which consolidated the Dominion of Canada, gave each province the right to exclusively make laws in relation to education, but safeguarded all rights or privileges granted by the law at the time of legislative union to any class of persons enjoying denominational schools.

When Manitoba entered the confederation in 1870, the Catholic delegates, guided by Archbishop Taché of St. Boniface, had taken steps to have the rights of the Catholic population of Manitoba respected. Despite the work of Archbishop Taché, separate schools were abolished on 1890. In 1894 the bishops of the Dominion sent a petition to the Governor-General in Council. On appeal, the British Privy council decided that this appeal was admissible, but referred its settlement to the Governor-General in council. In 1896 a pastoral letter appeared, signed by Cardinal Taschereau and the bishops of the Quebec province, protesting against the injustice done to the Catholics in Manitoba. “The issue in the general elections of 1896 was whether the wrongs of the Manitoba Catholics should be removed by remedial legislation of the Dominion Parliament, as the Conservatives proposed, or by conciliation and compromise with the provincial authorities, as the Liberals suggested” (Fournet, 1908). The Liberal party came into power under Sir Wilfred Laurier, and a compromise was made, which, without repealing the law, tried to lessen its effects. The Catholic Liberal members of the Dominion Parliament petitioned the Vatican to send an Apostolic Delegate. Pope Leo XII established a permanent Apostolic Delegate to Canada, which brought about the development of the Apostolic Nunciature in Ottawa and a Diplomatic relationship between the Vatican and the State of Canada.

In Canada, the bishop is completely independent of the State. As soon as he receives the Apostolic Bull he enters upon his functions without any civil formality. However, in the Province of Quebec “the local government accords him recognition and grants him certain rights, e.g. a seat in the Superior council of Public Instruction” (Fournet, 1908). The religious orders focused on education, prayer, and charity. Charity takes many forms such as hospitals, orphanages, kindergartens, cribs, refuges, work-rooms, hospices, asylums, and housekeeping in colleges.

After the Second Vatican Council in the late sixties, many Catholics were uncertain what to believe in anymore, which resulted in a crisis of faith. There was a desire to keep church and state apart. Vocations to religious life dwindled and many Catholic social work agencies had to hire lay people to carry on their noble work. Regardless of the ideological and theological debates of the times, the Catholic church has continued to assist those in need. As an example, in 2006, The Diocese of Calgary, with money received through the Bishop’s Appeal, general donations, sponsorships and fundraising activities Catholic Charities disbursed more than $1,002,200 in support of 39 agencies and programs serving 142,000 needy people throughout Southern Alberta. In addition to the dollars spent, 10,700 volunteers contributed 254,000 hours of their time to serve these agencies and programs. Some of the programs include Accessible Housing Society, Big Sisters and Big Brothers Society of Calgary, Birthright Calgary, Boys and Girls Clubs of Calgary, Brooks Pregnancy Centre, Calgary Catholic Immigration Society, Calgary Counseling Centre, Calgary Habitat for Humanity Society, Calgary Handi-Bus Association, Calgary Immigrant Women's Association, Calgary Inter-Faith Food Bank Society, Calgary Meals on Wheels, Camp Cadicasu, The Catholic Family Service of Calgary, Crossroads Counseling Centre, Crowsnest Pass Women's Resource & Crisis Centre, Discovery House, Family Violence Prevention Society, Drumheller Society for Recovery, Elizabeth House, Father Lacombe Nursing Home, Feed the Hungry Program, The Fort Macleod Society for Kids First, Hospice Calgary Society, Inn From the Cold, Kara Community Advisory Association, Latour Native Foundation, Lethbridge Family Services, Life & Family Resources Centre, Linkages, The Medicine Hat Women's Shelter Society, Oxford House Foundation of Canada, Society of St. Vincent de Paul Western Region, St. Joseph's Home for the Aged, St. Michael's Health Centre, The Salvation Army Medicine Hat Family Community Church, Universal Rehabilitation Service Agency, Young Women's Christian Association of Calgary, Youville Residence Society of Alberta, and the YWCA of Lethbridge and District (R.C. Diocese of Calgary). In 2006, the National Canadian Catholic Charity of Development and Peace partnered in 300 projects and programs in more than 40 countries around the world. Development and Peace raised over $36,000,000 that was used to support these project and programs. (Development and Peace).

“Catholics played a key role in the development of Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms, yet increasing the Catholic Church is seen at odds with the so-called rights revolution that in 2005 brought the legalization of same-sex marriage” (Gyapong, 2007). At a major conference in Montreal, on February. 14-16, 2007, marking the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom’s 25th anniversary, Daniel Cere, professor of religion, ethics and public policy at McGill University, cited “the influence of Catholic philosopher Jacques Maritain, who helped draft the 1948 Universal of Human Rights, and Pope John XXIII’s call for every nation to entrench human rights. Both men had an impact on Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, who brought in the Charter in 1982. Cere said in effect Trudeau was being “a good Catholic boy” following the pope” (Gyapong, 2007).

As Canada has become a multicultural society, it is also obvious that now, with the acceleration of history, a revolution is taking place that is bringing something different from the four to five hundred years of modernity lying behind us. This is purely a Western phenomenon. Even the Charter is as McGill professor and faculty of arts dean Chris Manfredi said, “understood as a secular document for a modern multicultural society” (Gyapong, 2007), and not in terms of a religious society. Iain Benson, executive director of the Ottawa-based think tank the Centre for Cultural Renewal stated that, “For religion there is not just a personal but there’s a group and community aspect which is important for the whole culture,” (Gyapong, 2007), and noted that “many of Canada’s major social movements have had a religious dimension and have not needed the courts to help the cause of the disadvantaged or to bring in Medicare, for example” (Gyapong, 2007).

During the 20th century, the Church experienced many ruptures within Canadian society. Such ruptures have been attributed to such models as colonization, industrialization, capitalism, the residential school system, Marxism, psychoanalysis, post modernism, radical feminism, secularism, and post-post modernism. Many of these once so promising models of Canadian society have collapsed and are being reviewed with modern eyes. These can all be hasty classifications, but we can see the breaks between the periods only from a certain distance. The Renaissance formulated the term “Middle Ages” in order to say that that period was something that had intervened and that was now ending. With this periodization it interpreted itself as something new, and in some sense it was right. The effects of colonization are still strong. The dominant attitude of making those unlike us to be like us is still prevalent. As Canadians, we should be alert for the radical changes and try to hold ready the right elements for guiding them, so that this newer time, which replaces the one that until now has been new, but is already beginning to grow old, will remain a time of respect and dignity of the human person and works to the development of each and every human being. Sociologists, futurologists, and cultural critics are feverishly in search of an interpretation and a term to express the time ahead of us. The true effects of the Catholic Church, within Canadian society, is hard to measure and is yet to be measured. One can only surmise on this point, because even today the legacy of the Catholic Church in Canada and its role in colonization still runs deep and the Catholic Church still continues to have an active role within Canadian and the broader global society.




Bibliography

Cortes, Hernando. (2004). Five Letters 1519-1526. London and New York: Routledge Curzon Taylor K Francis Group.

Las Casas. Bartolome de. (1992). Devastation of the Indies. Baltimore & London: Johns Hopkins University Press.

Leon-Portilla. Miguel. (1992). The Broken Spears. Boston: Beacon Press.

Prescott, William H. (2000). History of the Conquest of Mexico and Peru. New York: Random House.

Todorov, Tzvetan. (1984). The Conquest of America :The Question of the Other. New York: Harper & Row.

Dupuis, Jean-Claude. (2000). French Canada: A Catholic Church Endeavor. Ontario. Society of Saint Pius X.

Christie, Robert. (1842). History of the late Province of Lower Canada, parliamentary and political. (6 vols.). Quebec and Montreal.

Author not available. (2006). LAVAL, FRANÇOIS XAVIER DE., The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition.

A. Fournet (1908). The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume III. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Nihil Obstat, November 1, 1908. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.

"Roman Catholic Church" Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2007
http://encarta.msn.com © 1997-2007 Microsoft Corporation.

Pickering, Danby. (1762-1869). Great Britain: The statutes at large ... (from 1225 to 1867). Cambridge : Benthem, for C. Bathhurst ; London, 1762-1869.

Canadian Catholic Conference of Bishops CCCB Online Website
http://www.cccb.ca © 2007 Canadian Catholic Conference of Bishops.

Catholic Church seen at odds with the Canadian rights revolution it helped launch. (2007, February 21).
Canadian Catholic News Online Website. http://www.cathnews.net © 2007 Canadian Catholic News .

Roman Catholic Diocese of Calgary Charities. © 2007.
http://www.rcdiocese-calgary.ab.ca/charities/index.htm © 2007 Diocese of Calgary.

Pagnuelo (1872). Etudes historiques et légales sur la liberté religieuse en Canada. Montreal.

The Official International Developmental Organization of the Catholic Church in Canada and the Canadian member of Caritas Internationalis. © 2007. http://ww.devp.org © 2007. Development and Peace.

Pilgrim, how you journey
on the road you chose
to find out why the winds die
and where the stories go.
All days come from one day
that much you must know,
you cannot change what's over
but only where you go.

One way leads to diamonds,
one way leads to gold,
another leads you only
to everything you're told.
In your heart you wonder
which of these is true;
the road that leads to nowhere,
the road that leads to you.

Will you find the answer
in all you say and do?
Will you find the answer
In you?

Each heart is a pilgrim,
each one wants to know
the reason why the winds die
and where the stories go.
Pilgrim, in your journey
you may travel far,
for pilgrim it's a long way
to find out who you are...

The past few weeks have been very tough for me. I have done much wrong and much wrong has been done to me. In an upcoming post I will post my letter of resignation from RPM and an apology. I am still hurt by David Focks and Tracy Edwards.

At the end of this past millennia many of the once so promising models of society have collapsed. Such models have included Marxism, psychoanalysis, post modernism, and a movement towards a secularized society rooted in anthropocentric relativism. I feel we are moving towards a culture of self estrangement from the roots we come from. I only express hope in my thoughts. I believe that the internal dead end and contradictions, as well as internal falsity of suck theories will continue to emerge. Many theories that seemed so logical and compelling, and therefore could exercise such fascination, especially because it was associated with a moral ethics, simply does not correspond to reality. As an example, antiauthority education, in the name of human liberation, which is a noble notion, does not work because it belongs to man and woman’s essence to need authority. I t is important to come to a self criticism of the ideologies through the experiences of history, and through this reflectiveness a new look at social work would open up. This would allow for a new conception of social work, for all splinters of truth in these views also disclose new aspects of the inner wealth of Social Work.

As capitalism evolves and progresses, at its current rate, the economic and political situation continues to worsen, there is no great awakening in the sense that people are now saying: “We need more government spending on social welfare programs to counter act the unbalancing nature of capitalism”. Rather a new weariness is setting in the souls of many people, a dissipation, a resignation: hopelessness increases. The mere failure of preceding ideologies does not necessarily lead to a rebirth of communal values in a world that is all too often one of subjective individual relativism. Disappointment settles in and can lead to further collapse, but can also lead to an openness so that people may be touched by a helping hand of another human being and regeneration can occur.

Amongst social work practitioners there is an unsettling individualistic ideology. Broad circles within social work seem to have forgotten that the subject who pursues social work is not the individual practitioner, but the Social Work community as a whole and the people it serves. From this forgetfulness of social work as social service derives a social work pluralism, that in reality is often a subjectivism and individualism that has little to with the bases of the origins and history of social work. In doing so, many efforts have often contributed more to the aggravation n than to the resolution of the crisis. It would be unjust to generalize this affirmation, but it would also be wrong purely and simply to deny it.

In this subjective view of social work, the Social Work Code of ethics and policies and procedures are often viewed as an intolerable straitjacket, an assault on the freedom of the worker and client. But this loses sight of the fact that a definition of Code of Ethics and policies and procedures are rather a service to the truth and good will to others. A Code of Ethics and the rules and regulations that flow form these ethics are not walls that prevent us from seeing. On the contrary, they are windows that open upon the infinite. This subjective view of social work practice, by social workers has grave consequences for the social work profession. Where does this idea assault on freedom come from? It comes from a dangerously misused word; liberation. Liberation seems to be the “in vogue” word taken up by contemporary cultures on all continents. We are all affected by; even our clients. Among these cultures that embrace and defend liberation, the situation is further complicated by the poisoning of genuine liberation as a well embraced notion and ideal that covertly generates its exact opposite result. These forces are relentless, formidable, and prevalent. Liberation is a key concept in North American and Europe. There is a demand for liberation from religious ethics, moral ethics, medical ethics, ethics in general, and hence liberation from the limitations of humanity itself; which in turn has lead to alienation and fragmentation.

Since social worker can be so fragmentized and can no longer transmit a common model of unity and oneness, the code of ethics is also exposed to dismemberment and to constantly changing experiments. A few ethnic principles are set in bold relief because they are viewed as being “closer to contemporary sensibility”. Others, for the opposite reason, are set aside. It is precisely personal egocentrism and anthropocentricity that is, in reality, at the root of unjust social structures. The Code of Ethics is critical. It is crucial to understand it in its entirety and not just its parts as individual pieces aside from the whole. Those who really desire a more human society need to begin with the root, not with the trunk and branches, of the tree of injustice. The issue here is that the Code of Ethics speak of basic fundamental human truths and how we are to be in relationship with ourselves and others, yet they are apologetically dismissed or set aside as “alienating”, “spiritualistic”, "draconian" and “enslaving” by our postmodern society. Consequently is no longer a Code of Ethics that would constitute a comprehensive all embracing formation of the social worker and their practice, but rather reflections an flashes of insights deriving from partial, subjective anthropological experiences.

Social work has evolved over time, but appears very quickly to have centered around “nucleus” of social work thought. The nucleus of social work practice has itself evolved into the Code of Ethics and the guiding Ethic Principles of Social Work. I will be challenged by this “nucleus” on the one hand, and on the other hand I will defend it, so as to protect the integrity of Social Work Practice.

Anyone who has a clear picture of the dark sides of the age in which we live see covert forces at work which aim to disintegrate the relationships amongst people. In this situation I, as a social worker, must regain the disintegrating relationship and overcome those forces which mean to bring harm to others. Once the social worker has begun to be aware with the dark sides of our age; their task would be to owe the world this service; the service that remains truthful to our social work values as discussed in Chapter 3 of our text. But I am reminded that we cannot succumb to the popular idea that “we can solve all problems with a little good will”. Even if we did not have faith, but were genuine realists, as are some social workers, we would be convinced that without the assistance of a higher power, we are prisoners of a baneful history.

It is not my intent to be pessimistic. When I take a look at closely at the most recent secular culture, I see how the easy, naïve optimism is turning into its opposite; radical pessimism and despairing nihilism. So if I am labeled as a pessimist, I will care for and be a social worker with radical optimism in the service I will provide to my clients. The task is formidable as are the powers that seek to undermine mission of social work. The roles of the social worker are not limited to the micro and mezzo system or counsellor, therapist, or case manager. The roles of the social worker are multileveled and complicated extending to the macro systems. As this can be viewed as very empowering on one hand, it can lead to a grave hemorrhages of spirit and will, on the other hand. In a democratic society whereby votes are cast and consensus is made, I am reminded that votes do not bring about truth and the just way of doing things. Doing things otherwise is alien to many people. An so the social worker, with all their roles, who’s roles are not based on the consent of the majority, but rather on the representation of values of an agency appears as something foreign and distant and even incomprehensible. Under these circumstances there is a great temptation to pass and set aside values, to a much more natural value system and services based on coordination of consensus, because it is only human and more in line with modern culture.

And so the role of a social worker passes from a role to counter act inequity to a role in line with the “democratic” mechanisms of consensus formation based on secular, capitalistic, democratic pluralist society. And so there is a temptation to flee and be liberated from hierarchical structures and codes and values toward the more plausible character of human democratic organization. An example of this would be a social workers who’s counseling transforms almost exclusively into a conversation, into a kind of therapeutic self analysis between two persons on the same level. That seems to be much more human, more personal and more adapted to the modern person. But this kind of counseling incurs the risk, when the worker and client boundaries are blurred and the worker jeopardizes their role as an agent of the state, who may have to exercise powers contrary to popularly held views of a democratic society, while at the same time respecting confidentiality.