Prime Minister deserves a fair shake over wafer faux pas
The summer can be a dull time for news agencies with a 24-hour news cycle and sometimes they have to dig down pretty deep to come up with stories to fill their slots.
So when the Prime Minister made a minor faux pas last week, the national media was quick to jump all over him.
Stephen Harper was in the front row at the funeral of former Governor-General Romeo Leblanc last week, the first state funeral in New Brunswick history, when Archbishop Andre Richard handed him a communion wafer while serving the Eucharist.
Harper’s a Protestant, and didn’t eat the wafer. Some said he put it in his pocket, which is a big no-no in the Catholic faith.
Officials from the PMO later reported Harper did eat the wafer, which is also a big no-no since he’s not a Catholic.
Sounds a whole lot like a damned if you do, damned if you don’t situation, doesn’t it?
Now don’t get me wrong. If my right hand ever took it upon itself to mark an X next to Stephen Harper’s name on an election ballot, I’d chop it off with my left one.
But this mistake in protocol Harper made was just that, a mistake and the fuss surrounding it is much ado about nothing.
As a non-Catholic, he shouldn’t have accepted the wafer and if he did put it in his pocket, I’m sure it wasn't to cause hurt feelings or anger. He obviously didn’t know any better.
World leaders like Harper have swarms of highly paid hangers-on whose only job is to tell them how to stay out of trouble.
Harper’s handlers should have explained to him what to do and especially what not to do at the Mass. But they didn’t. And sometimes people make mistakes. Even the Prime Minister of Canada.
But like Jesus said, Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.
People are making a mountain out of a molehill for the PM's unintentional slight.
He was attending the state funeral of a former Governor-General of Canada, a service he would have attended whether Mr. Leblanc had been Buddhist, or Jewish or Muslim or had no religion at all.
Why would he want to insult the Catholics of New Brunswick, or of Canada for that matter, on such a solemn occasion?
I don’t believe the Prime Minister meant any harm or disrespect.
You don’t have to like the guy, but everybody deserves a fair shake.
This issue is a non-issue.
So when the Prime Minister made a minor faux pas last week, the national media was quick to jump all over him.
Stephen Harper was in the front row at the funeral of former Governor-General Romeo Leblanc last week, the first state funeral in New Brunswick history, when Archbishop Andre Richard handed him a communion wafer while serving the Eucharist.
Harper’s a Protestant, and didn’t eat the wafer. Some said he put it in his pocket, which is a big no-no in the Catholic faith.
Officials from the PMO later reported Harper did eat the wafer, which is also a big no-no since he’s not a Catholic.
Sounds a whole lot like a damned if you do, damned if you don’t situation, doesn’t it?
Now don’t get me wrong. If my right hand ever took it upon itself to mark an X next to Stephen Harper’s name on an election ballot, I’d chop it off with my left one.
But this mistake in protocol Harper made was just that, a mistake and the fuss surrounding it is much ado about nothing.
As a non-Catholic, he shouldn’t have accepted the wafer and if he did put it in his pocket, I’m sure it wasn't to cause hurt feelings or anger. He obviously didn’t know any better.
World leaders like Harper have swarms of highly paid hangers-on whose only job is to tell them how to stay out of trouble.
Harper’s handlers should have explained to him what to do and especially what not to do at the Mass. But they didn’t. And sometimes people make mistakes. Even the Prime Minister of Canada.
But like Jesus said, Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.
People are making a mountain out of a molehill for the PM's unintentional slight.
He was attending the state funeral of a former Governor-General of Canada, a service he would have attended whether Mr. Leblanc had been Buddhist, or Jewish or Muslim or had no religion at all.
Why would he want to insult the Catholics of New Brunswick, or of Canada for that matter, on such a solemn occasion?
I don’t believe the Prime Minister meant any harm or disrespect.
You don’t have to like the guy, but everybody deserves a fair shake.
This issue is a non-issue.
posted by Street Wise Guy | 11:08 AM
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