Next year, Quebec City will also be hosting a Eucharistic Congress. It's like a big conference on the Blessed Sacrament.
And Pope Benedict XVI's presence there is in doubt.
The Vatican has already announced the pope's travel agenda for the year 2008.
Quebec City is not on the itinerary.
That is a shame. We need the Pope in Canada.
We need the Christian message of salvation through Christ and peace through God. Our culture is immersed in despair,darkness, consumerism, idolatry-- the idolatry of sex, money, fame, success, false compassion and so forth. Jesus Christ is the answer to this emptiness and vanity.
And we need the pope's Gospel of Life. We not only need personal salvation, we need societal salvation. We need to build a Culture of Life.
Holy Father: you are the best herald for this message. Because if you come, people will pay attention.
We not only need you to preach to the faithful and the unconverted, but also to the clergy. Holy Father, the clergy in Canada do not stand up for the faith. In fact, they regularly flout it. Especially in Quebec. We need you to remind the clergy that standing up for core Catholic doctrines is not optional, but obligatory especially for the ordained. We need you to remind the clergy to preach salvation through Jesus Christ, the right to life, universal truths, and so forth.
Canada is like a dried flowerbed that needs to be watered with your message to bloom.
Readers: the Holy Father has said that he will go to those places in response to a real desire for his presence, and where his message will likely have the greateste impact.
You have the power to help bring the pope to Canada in 2008!
Former Quebec Justice Minister Marc Bellemare has launched an initiative to persuade the pope to come to Quebec City. He is partnered with Luciano Dorotea, Quebec's former representative to Rome, and the head of Séminaire St. Francois, the Capuchin friar Jean-Marc Boulay. He has launched a petition in Quebec City, and this petition is being circulated in various businesses and venues across the city, including Ameublement Tanguay, Les Restaurants Normandin and Boston Pizza. The first two may not mean anything to you, but those are very well-known businesses in the Quebec City area.
This is a big effort.
And your help is needed.
There is also an online petition.
I know some people might grumble that this is a French-only petition. This campaign was conceived as a Quebec-centred campaign, but we need all the people we can get. This is way more important than language politics. We have to worry about the right values before we worry about language issues.
So please, sign this petition. The text of the petition is this:
JE SOUHAITE LA VENUE DU PAPE BENOÎT XVI À QUÉBEC EN JUIN 2008, À L'OCCASION DU 49e CONGRÈS EUCHARISTIQUE INTERNATIONAL.
Translated it says: I wish for the coming of Pope Benedict XVI to Quebec in June 2008 during the 49th International Eucharistic Congress.
And for the form:
Prenom: First name
Nom: Last name
Courriel (optional): Email
If you all sign it, he will come!
You can also download the paper version of the petition. The contact information at the bottom.
And notice: there is no space for addresses. No one is going to harvest personal information. So you can bring this to your local church and encourage as many people as possible to sign this petition.
The other thing you can do is: if you have a blog, please blog this. I've already asked a few people to do so. Please blog about the petition especially, so we can get as many names on there as possible.
And you don't have to be Catholic (or anything else) to help with this campaign. All that is needed is for you to want the pope to come to Quebec City.
I hope you all join in, because your help is very much needed.
Other blogs that are furthering this cause:
Proud to Be Canadian
Deborah Gyapong
The Bear Blog
Stand Your Ground
Left-Right? Up or Down?
Le Québec de Sébastien
Family Matters
SoCon or Bust
Kairux
Wanton Popery
Vote Life, Canada!
Les nationalistes de droite
ALSO: There's a Facebook Group for this. Join it and invite all friends who are sympathetic to this cause.
