Vox reader skewers Thomas Cardinal Collins

A reader of Vox Cantoris has written to Thomas Cardinal Collins to express his views on recent actions. The writer has granted permission to publish the letter and has requested his name withheld. I express my thanks to him for his readership and this publication.

October 3, 2021

 

Your Excellency,  Cardinal Collins:  

 

I am a practising Catholic.  I am a father of 4 children, two of which are in the Separate School system.  I am also a 4th Degree Knight of Columbus and I assist with Squires as a Counsellor. 

 

I am writing to respond to the letter sent from the Archdiocese of Toronto dated September 24, 2021, which was made public to our Church this past Sunday.  

 

I must agree with the letter of Vox Cantoris posted on his blog on September 25, 2021.  You have no idea of the indignation of many Catholics with the extreme violation of Catholics’ Civil Rights during this pandemic by the Government of Ontario and Canada.  You did nothing to push back against this violation of our Civil Rights!!!  OUR BASIC HUMAN RIGHTS!!!!! 

 

The Governments of Ontario and Canada are breaking the Law!!!! And just so you understand my background I have a Masters Degree in Philosophy with a Major in Reasoning Skills and Critical Thinking and a Minor in Moral Theory.  I also have a Law Degree and I have practised law for 20 years. So I professionally know what I am talking about.  

 

When the Nazis came to the Catholic Church and told the occupied territories in Poland that they wanted to choose the Church's bishops and clergy, the future Cardinal Wyszynski pushed back against such edicts by the German Government.  Our Church simply laid down and allowed the government to walk all over faithful Catholics like most Catholic leadership. However, not all were quiet and for their outspokenness, these priests were sanctioned by the Catholic Church. Sad, very sad. 

 

So when Vox says, 

 

“You have left a legacy in your last two years of cowardice, lies and betrayal. You have committed sinful acts by barring the faithful from Mass when it did not need to happen…..What you have done to your clergy, staff and faithful are a betrayal and scandal.”

 

I have to agree with this statement.  And there are a significant number of Catholics that agree with such statements.  In my opinion, you have made a big mistake by endorsing and supporting the ILLEGAL ACTIONS  of these Governments.  You have lost the confidence of Catholics by siding with the Nazis Tactics of the Trudeau and Ford Governments.  

 

I also must respond to several parts of the letter from the Archdiocese of Toronto, 

 

FIRST,  the Church must think that we Catholics are all stupid.  Especially those that are well educated.   The Church is not requiring parishioners to be vaccinated to attend mass?????  NO CATHOLIC  BELIEVES THIS WILL REMAIN TO BE THE CASE.  It is NO different than what the NAZIS  did to the Jews in Germany in the 1930s. It all happened slowly, bit by bit until one day they were shipped off in cattle cars.  First, you impose the Illegal vaccine mandate upon the priests, employees and volunteers in the churches then once that is in place the next logical step is to impose such mandates upon everyone.  

 

I note YOU HAVE NOT ASSURED PARISHIONERS THAT THIS KIND OF ACTION WILL NEVER BE ENFORCED OR TOLERATED BY THE CATHOLIC CHURCH.  You have not drawn the line in the sand which Catholics would appreciate the Church making such positions clearer. 

 

I predict that these kinds of measures will eventually happen when the Government requires them.  The Government already requires this for large sporting events and for eating in restaurants.  They will require it for our children to attend Catholic schools. You are very NAIVE if you cannot see this coming because it is coming!!!!!   And of course, the Catholic Church will not oppose the enforcement of such edicts despite the fact that Catholics have strong personal convictions not to participate in any way with abortion tainted medical treatments.  As Bishop Strickland has said many times, I will never take a jab that started and was created from a murdered baby. 

 

When this happens I will pull my children out of the Catholic School system and remove all support for the Catholic School system via my taxes. I think that the only way the Catholic Church will wake up is when people stop supporting weak leaders. As the Bishop of Toronto, we look to you for strong leadership in a time many are fearful.   And standing up for people's human rights is the morally right thing to do.  

 

I read the Vatican’s letter from the Legal Department issued early during the pandemic and I will not shy away from my professional opinion that this letter was the biggest bunch of HOGWASH I have ever read, in terms of both Moral and Legal Theory.  It made absolutely no sense.  I have sympathy for those that live in fear.  However, fear is never a good reason for doing something that is the morally right thing to do. I have two parents that are in their 90's and they chose to get the shot, I have no opposition with those that choose to get vaccinated.  However, I  stand with Bishop Strickland, Bishop Schneider, Archbishop Vigano, Father Robert Altman, Cardinal Burke.  There is no tolerance for abortion, much less for abortion tainted medicines.  I stand for choice, not mandates. 

 

SECOND, the statement that these policies are “for a short term only”, is again NAIVE at best.  Nothing that has happened with this pandemic has been temporary.  It has all been instituted to BREAK THE LAW and to push people in the direction of getting the shot.  We were supposed to only close down for 2 weeks to “FLATTEN THE CURVE”.   We know that taking these steps will put permanent policies in place.  Once again, you have not provided any assurances to Catholics that you will only treat these policies as temporary and that you will NEVER see them as permanent.  You are very careful with what you say and as a result with what you say you are causing Catholics to lose faith in your leadership.  

 

You say that you sincerely hope that such policies will be lifted. WHAT IF THEY ARE NOT LIFTED what is your position then???? Are there any limits to what a Government will require and if not then the Church has been handed over to the Government to dictate how our DEPOSIT OF FAITH is to be practiced?????  DO YOU NOT REALIZE THAT VACCINE MANDATES ARE ILLEGAL AND AGAINST THE CHARTER OF RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS???   

 

If we don’t stand up to Tyranny then the Tyrants will simply push us around in whatever way they want.  I believe that you have backed yourself into a corner which you will not have anywhere to go once the Government lowers the hammer on Catholics. 

 

THIRD, this option of either being vaccinated or providing a clear covid test every week at a cost of $40 per test ($160 per month) IS A FALSE OPTION BECAUSE ONLY THE RICH CAN AFFORD SUCH AN OPTION.  YOU ARE DISCRIMINATING AGAINST  POOR CATHOLICS WHO WISH TO VOLUNTEER THEIR SKILLS TO A PARISH!!!! 

 

But again this is a VIOLATION OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS OF CITIZENS  because they have to make public their vaccination status which  IS  PERSONAL AND PRIVATE AND IS NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS, THE BUSINESS OF THE CHURCH OR THE BUSINESS OF ANYONE ELSE.  Medical information is private and you are again assisting the GOVERNMENT IN THEIR ILLEGAL POLICIES and VIOLATING PEOPLE’S CIVIL RIGHTS.  Please educate yourself on the Genetic Non-Discrimination Act S.C. 2017, c.3.  You are in clear violation of this statute along with the Trudeau and Ford Governments.

 

It is also illegal for anyone to receive your personal medical history.  There are laws on the books to prevent this.  And now we are going to violate people’s Medical Privacy.  This is ILLEGAL. And you are now going along with the Governments' ILLEGAL POLICIES. 

 

FOURTH, You will provide accommodation to individuals on the basis of HUMAN RIGHTS LEGISLATION????

 

Instead of speaking in straightforward language, we have to translate this mumbo jumbo language in this letter to determine what is being said.  My guess is that Religious Beliefs are a protected right under the Ontario Human Rights Act?  I think this is very sad, you will accommodate the rights of individuals on the basis of Human Rights Legislation now yet  NOTHING  WAS DONE TO DEFEND THE RELIGIOUS RIGHTS OF CATHOLICS VIA HUMAN RIGHTS LEGISLATION DURING THE LOCKDOWNS.  This is very sad indeed. My fear is that the way Human Rights are being spoken about recently has some sort of sinister end.  All of these claims to Human Rights came about as a result of the extreme violation of Human Rights during the Second World War.  Imagine a Catholic Church that does not respect the Religious Conviction of its members that they have nothing to do with abortion tainted medicines?  I cannot.  We should hold ourselves to a higher standard and not some sort of Secular Value System. 

 

The idea that the only way or the best way to prevent contracting covid is to get the shot is just plain wrong. One can still come down with covid despite getting the shot and this is demonstrated over and over in the many studies done throughout the world (eg UK, Israel). Our Government has chosen not to listen to some of the Leading Doctors and Scientists in the world that do not believe in just the covid shot. Your position again shows that the Church is in lockstep with the Government and not listening to the Science.  It is not the place of the CATHOLIC CHURCH  to advocate such policies.  When you do this it leads to mistrust amongst us who are educated and know that this Government is NOT FOLLOWING THE SCIENCE  but has some sort of other agenda at hand.  The policies of the Australian Government are Tyrannical.  Let's hope that we do not get to these extreme positions, however, I am fearful that we will get here soon enough.  Our Prime Minister who claims to be a Catholic is taking steps to completely censor the internet in Canada. This is tyrannical and it is the place of the Catholic Church to speak out against government tyranny when it imposes positions that violate people's basic civil rights. 

 

I fear that you are not making things better for Catholics but instead, you are driving away more Catholics who will not follow blindly, policies that are ANTI-CATHOLIC.  Instead of bringing Catholics together these policies are setting Catholics against one another and THESE POLICIES ARE DISCRIMINATING AGAINST A WHOLE SWATH OF CATHOLICS who have much to offer their Church but will not BLINDLY FOLLOW UNDEMOCRATIC POLICIES.  

 

The option of MEDICAL CHOICE IS NOT BEING RESPECTED.  MEDICAL PROCEDURES ARE PERSONAL AND PRIVATE BETWEEN DOCTOR AND PATIENT.  THERE IS NO PLACE FOR THE CHURCH TO GET INVOLVED IN THIS. 

 

To quote Orthodox Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel 

 

“Shame on such generation, shame.  Stop enslaving people, And enough lies, enough lockdowns, this is slavery, and enough so-called Corona, it can be treated quite easily with proven medications. Let Bill Gates Jab himself with it, Let George Soros Jab himself with it, Enough Stupidity. Enough”

 

“Is there no conscience living in people? Is there? Is there somebody that has a conscience or have you all killed it? Is there anyone among you to be a MAN to stand up and speak the truth even if it takes them to be kicked out? Is there? Are you all Cowards? Has money blinded you? Selfish Leaders, Selfish generation, Selfish 21st Century, Selfish.  You will destroy yourself, by yourself.” 

 

I will end with a quote from Archbishop Vigano from The Vigano Tapes 1, 2 & 3 published on October 1, 2021: “… It is obvious the rulers are not pursuing the common good when they expose a population to experimentation without a scientific basis. Even in the face of evidence of the vaccine's ineffectiveness and the damage that it causes to those that have received it. And it is equally obvious that the ecclesiastical hierarchy, in so far as it lends itself to supporting this massacre plan on the global level is an accomplice to a crime against humanity and even more to a very grave sin against God.”

 

My hope and my prayer are that you will reconsider your position and defend the Catholic Deposit of Faith against the Tyranny of our Governments.  I understand that a great amount of pressure has been placed upon your shoulders but you are the leader and this is what leaders need to do.  That is what Catholics need right now, strong leadership.  The Church needs to step up and defend the faithful.  

 

It is not too late to cut a different path and restore the faith of Catholics in your leadership.  I hope and pray that you will understand that my criticisms are not meant to be a personal attack upon you but on policies that are misguided and against the interests of Catholics as a whole. 

 

May God Bless your Excellency, 

 

Yours Sincerely,  

 

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