It was back on November 18, 2020, that I first wrote about Thomas Cardinal Collins shuttering Archdiocese of Toronto churches. He intended to move from the government diktat of thirty percent occupancy to fifty persons, even in churches that would hold 500, 800 or 1,200. A few days later, after the Premier reduced occupancy to a maximum of ten persons, the Cardinal ordered the cessation of public Mass. The label No Mass For You with a picture of the Cardinal taken from a leaked webinar video with his finger rising in the manner of the Seinfeld Soup Nazi, emphasized clearly what he was doing to the lay faithful. The Cardinal NAZI. The clericalist extraordinaire. Mass for me. Sacraments for me. None for you. On Thursday, November 26, 2020, I wrote an open letter to the Cardinal. I have consistently, sometimes daily, urged the Cardinal to repent of this error and to challenge the provincial diktat and stand up for our religious rights. I have urged him to join with other Christian pastors in the fight. I have urged him to dare the Premier to arrest him and his priests.
In a stunning letter today, four months later and four months, no; eleven months too late, Cardinal Collins actually has the temerity to indicate that he is about to call upon the Catholic faithful to send a letter to the Premier and elected Members to beg them to return to us, our rights. The Cardinal writes of equity and rights and the numbers permitted in retail but not in worship. Where has he been? Have we not been saying this for months, nearly a year?
This is the same man who in the leaked webinar video referred to the public health officials that he has cowardly allowed to do this to the Church and the faithful as "virtuous." He failed to stand up to these virtuous cretins who put our religious rights as less than our right to buy marijuana.
I wrote that he should have kept churches open and fought and defied the reduction to ten. That he should have ordered every priest to comply with his order or face suspension and to defy the government through the opening of churches with proper precautions - as we did from June to November. He admitted that there was no data that supported the suspicion that the virus was being transmitted in churches. He went along with all the diktats of politicians and public health minions and did nothing, nothing at all to confront them, nothing more than a phone call or putting his failed communications director on it. The same one who told Toronto priests, "we're handling it," with regards to so-called gay-straight alliances in Catholic schools. Yes, they handled that all right, as bad as they handled this.
It's an embarrassment. It is laughable that only now has he awoken from his slumber, only now, he worries about our spiritual needs, only now, does he consider that he might, just in case, ask us to write a letter or make a phone call. Does this woeful Shepherd think we've not been? At least, those of us to care enough?
I guess the money is running out. Yes, that is it. It's all about the money. Even Andy MacBeth has realized that and earlier this week opened St. Margaret of Scotland for private prayer. What happened, Father, a little blog publicity?
The cowardice, the betrayal and the legacy of failure of Thomas Collins is a pathetic indictment on his whole tenure as Archbishop which will come to an end in a year. He has sold us out for less than thirty pieces of silver to the radical secularists. He gives homilies now about persecution. Well, this is the man that opened the door to it by failing to stand up when necessary. Failing to rally the Catholic faithful when it would have meant something. Now, he offers a vacuous and ineffectual threat that he might ask us to write a letter, an email or pick up a telephone.
It won't happen, Eminence. The people have been abandoned by you to the secularist wolves. You failed when it was necessary to act in March 2020 and November 2020. It is simply too little, too late. It won't work. The political class is laughing at you.
What a failure. What a coward. What a legacy.
February 24, 2021
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
Lent is a penitential season in which, each year, we prepare ourselves for the celebration of Easter by following the call of Jesus to engage in prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. This past year of pandemic has itself been a kind of penitential season, forcing us to consider our human fragility, and the stark fact of sickness and death.
Many people have experienced great privation, which has come uninvited, and not as a penitential choice. And yet, just as the voluntary penances of Lent can lead us to a deeper appreciation of our human frailty – the fact that we are dust and to dust we shall return - and of our need for God, so too we pray that these involuntary privations may be experienced in a way that will lead not to fruitless anger, but to a deeper self-awareness, and to compassion for our neighbours who are suffering.
Especially in a time of crisis, our sacramental life is essential. Here is an update on the operation of churches in the Archdiocese of Toronto. As of this writing, the following restrictions remain in effect for places of worship in the archdiocese:
- Durham Region, Simcoe County, Orangeville and York Region churches – these areas have returned to the “Red” (Control) designation, as determined by the Province of Ontario. This permits churches in these regions to operate sacramental celebrations at 30% capacity.
- Toronto and Peel Region churches – the province, in consultation with local medical officers of health, has extended the stay-at-home order in these regions until at least March 8, 2021, restricting places of worship to no more than 10 people (including the celebrant) in the church at any given time.
I am heartened that public Masses have returned to more than 35% of our parishes. Where this is not yet possible, I have asked all parishes to remain open each day for a period of private prayer. Permission has also been granted to parishes in these regions to continue to offer Holy Communion services on the weekend. Please check with your local parish regarding their current schedule.
I am grateful for the many sacrifices that you have made over the past 11 months. Throughout the pandemic, out of love for neighbour, in an effort to minimize the transmission of Covid-19, we have followed the health authorities’ direction on significant restrictions, limiting the ability of the faithful to gather. This has resulted in great spiritual sacrifice and pain for all of us, and especially for those who are isolated and vulnerable.
Despite temporary restrictions, we need to worship together, and to return to our full sacramental life as soon as is possible. We continue to urge that places of worship be treated equitably by the province; for example, it is only fair that there be a consistent approach to restrictions as they relate to retail businesses and to places of worship. Recently, a coalition of faith leaders has written to Premier Ford, highlighting the essential nature of in–person communal worship and spiritual support. If the government does not address these issues sufficiently, we will be asking for your assistance in contacting our elected officials to amplify our voices.
Once again, thank you for the sacrifices you have made. We pray for those who have died and for those who are sick, as we pray that this pandemic may soon come to an end. May God continue to bless you.
Sincerely in Christ,
Thomas Cardinal Collins
Archbishop of Toronto
15 comments:
It's a nice effort but much more needs to be done. There has to be a legal challenge based on constitutional grounds. There has to be "civil disobedience" - that means opening churches against the irrational policies of the province and Toronto.
I have one question for Cardinal Collins: why should you think that their reply will be any different from your relies to emails and letters? I wrote to you on two separate occasions. You did not reply, but gave me the cold shoulder. Is there any reason for us to believe that atheists will reply any differently than the man who is supposed to be my spiritual Shepherd?
The virus has revealed exactly how deep the cowardice and worldly spirit has invaded the Church. I thank God for the SSPX. They were the only ones in my diocese who cared enough to give us the Mass. They held Mass at a county fairground obeying all the ridiculous rules of the government. We even had the local sheriff stop by on occasion presumably to make sure we were "compliant." The priests serving us were from the seminary in central Virginia and had to travel over two hours each way not counting all the setup involved. They heard confessions in the field. In gratitude for their fidelity we continue to attend Mass in our makeshift mission chapel and hope to be involved in establishing a chapel in the area. Thank God for their zeal and love for the flock.
Pink man bad.
The letter is a cop out. The Shepherd of our Diocese, with all due respect, is passing the buck on to the Sheep to do something, so as to give themselves the excuse not to do anything substantive or something that would require a backbone. He should NOT ASK CAESAR if the Church's and the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass can resume. The Shepherd should TELL CAESAR that Church and Mass will recommence whether Caesar likes it or not. And that in the future, what belongs to God belongs to God. Cardinal Collins weak leadership has set a most dangerous precedent. He has basically given the Keys of the Church over to Caesar. That now Caesar gets to determine if and when our Churchs are open. Under what condition they are open. How many people can or cannot attend the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. And the manner of reception of Our Lord. And this from a successor of the Apostles. Would anyone of the Apostles have acted as this cowardly lot has, in handing over the Flock to the Wolves? We have lost every battle in the Moral and Social realm in this Diocese over the years. And their response has always been the same, have the Sheep write emails and letters to their MPs, as an excuse and cover for their inaction and lack of a backbone. The Saints have said that God gives us the Shepherds we deserve. Sadly, how true.
With all due respect to the Cardinal, the letter is a cop out. He is passing the buck on to the Sheep to do something that he the Shepherd should have done and should be doing. It is sorry excuse for his inaction. He should NOT ASK CAESAR if Churchs and Holy Mass can resume... He should TELL CAESAR that THEY WILL RESUME, whether Caesar likes it or not. And that in the future, what belongs to God belongs to God, not to the Premier or the Health authorities of the province. What Cardinal Collins has done is to set an extraordinarily dangerous precedent. He has basically given over the keys of the Church to Caesar. That it is now Caesar who determines whether our Churchs are open or not. That Caesar gets to determine how many people and under what restrictions they can attend Church. That Caesar gets to determine the mode for reception of Our Blessed Lord. Is this the conduct of a Worthy Successor to the Apostles? The Saints have said that God gives us the Priests and Bishops that we deserve. For the utterly Cowardly and Lukewarm diocese the we are, Priests and Laity alike, how true... God has given us the Priests and Bishops that we deserve... Nevertheless, we pray that the Cardinal will stand up for Our Lord and do the right thing.
This has been allowed to happen for far too long and we can all agree that Cardinal Collins failed to prioritize the worship of God and the spiritual needs of his flock. As you stated (and have been for months) it has actually been Cardinal Collins that has increased the restrictions even further than the government officials were calling for. Many of us have already written MPP's and Doug Ford but those letters fell on deaf ears as there was no authority behind them.
That being said it is never too late to turn back to God. I don't believe Cardinal Collins was the one rallying these other religious leaders but if he is finally going to fight for the right to worship God at mass on Sunday then I'm going to be behind him. I haven't been praying for him to turn and do the right thing only to abandon him when he does.
This is a battle and it doesn't matter how bleak it looks, we have The One True God on our side.
The cardinal has some nerve asking for letters to be written when he and his minions routinely ignore letters from the faithful and even his priests, so I'm told. We wrote many letters when we found out that our beloved pastor was being forced into early retirement. During the lockdown our pastor was tireless in providing us with pastoral care. A true shepherd. Thank goodness he stood up to this tyrant and refused to move within the two week notice he was given to vacate the rectory. What a scandal! Our parish is destroyed. We had 15 people in attendance last Sunday when we were allowed public Mass again. This was at the Mass that was most well attended. Shame on the cardinal for persecuting a faithful and holy priest. My family and I now attend the SSPX Chapel. The cardinal will have to give an account to God for all he has done, especially to orthodox parishes and good and holy priests. May God have mercy on his soul!
It is all unnecessary! My parish has been open since last spring. I never wear the face muzzle. No sicknesses nor outbreaks at the parish. No requirements and no sicknesses at some traditional parishes I know of. It bee ess. The actual numbers are only about 6% of the supposed ones. Yes, there are some who get very ill but it could be that the jab is more dangerous than the 'virus' which has never been isolated. A few people that I have not seen at daily Mass in a year have gotten the jab and sit on the periphery and wear their dirty face coverings: they still live in fear. A Catholic in a state of grace should never fear even death. Certainly not from a bad flu.
reply to Barona:
That is an excellent comment. What you have experienced with the Cardinal I have experienced with the church of nice bishop Crosby in Hamilton - not once has he ever replied to me on any issues of concern that I wrote to him about.
But after my last contact I did get correspondence just not related to what I wrote about, but about my second instalment to their capital campaign, which I promptly filed in the garbage.
NO MORE PRAY PAY AND OBEY for me. Those who try to be faithful are just a bloody nuisance to these "shepherds" so I jus don't bother anymore.
Luciano
How about he grow a pair and tell the government to piss off and then open everything to full capacity. How about every bishop, who is not a globalist shill, do that.
St. Sophia's three daughters were tortured and martyred in front of her because they wouldn't give ONE PINCH of incense to a "god" at the time and then God took her three days later...and these guys are begging the government to "please mister let us open our churches again" because they closed them because of a freaking cold?? How embarrassing in the eyes of God...seriously.
I hate the "we know more now argument" as a defense in this situation, but I will take it at this point that they admit they know more now, they overreacted and then move on to fix the damage caused by their stupidity.
Because if they don't open them at this point and provide us the Sacraments on a regular basis knowing what's coming and what WE have to be prepared for...it doesn't look good for them.
This is a great opportunity to see just how much respect there is in the pews for Cardinal Collins, given his actions over the past year. I will not be writing. It does seem to me that his hands were somewhat tied by the many priests who have no courage except to disobey him and he knows it. He hasn't the guts to deal with that lot either.
I fail to understand why people continually write to the cardinal/bishop or whomever faggot at the Toronto chancery office and think or hope that anything will be done for whatever justified grievance they have. Nothing ever is done - and this has been the condition for years and years. The evidence is plain - we are dealing with sociopathic apostates and/or obstinate formal heretics. Why throw pearls amongst these swine? Brush the dust off of your feet and move on, commands the Alpha and Omega.
The job now is not to attempt to communicate with these charming reprobates, looking for resolutions or hoping they will throw a few bread crumbs. They're gone. Rather - in addition to prayer (incl. imprecatory prayer) - the job presently is to simply to expose their abominations, errors, sins of commission/omission, etc. in whatever way - documents dumps, getting private investigators to photograph your priest in bed with a male prostitute, etc.
This request for Catholics to write their politicians is a form of mockery. They are laughing at us, reveling in our suffering and sadness. After doing such things, these individuals, after a day of "work" of gaslighting or whatever vacuous things they do, will go home, have a nice hot meal, drink a warm glass of milk before retiring for the evening, and then sleep like babies.
They're gone.
For those who still wish to contact the chancery office, may I humbly suggest the following as an alternative...likely, it would not gain notoriety, but the Lord of History will know, which is the most important thing. Here is my suggestion: Order a millstone at millstones.com. Henry is the person you want to contact. Then, call your favourite courier, UPS, FedEx; but I recommend a small private courier, given how the scamdemic has decimated small businesses. Load up the millstone (i.e. safely and properly packaged beforehand) and address it to your faggot of choice at the chancery office. Of course, shipping costs will be significant, given the weight of an average millstone. Nonetheless, this financial disincentive is rendered as nothing when a most wonderful geographical fact is realized. Namely, Lake Ontario is just a short walk away from the chancery office.
It is still to the right and awaits your return!
Vox
What is it with "dumping" things on the laity? How Vatican 2ish. Recall Bishop Baron's escapist response to the the toppling of statues: "That's for the laity to address.." Time and time again Bishops doing the Porky Pig stutter/stammer two step.
Great to hear again from TH2.
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