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CANADA
Bishop sees a Vatican “Inquisition”Question involves a controversial group
A bishop in Eastern Ontario has equated the Vatican’s condemnation of a controversial Quebec sect to the oppression of the Inquisition, according to a report in Canada’s National Post.
Bishop Eugene LaRocque of Alexandria-Cornwall defended the Army of Mary in a letter to his parishes, saying: “Recently, the Pope asked forgiveness for the errors surrounding the Inquisition; we must be careful not to repeat errors and injustices of the past.”
The Army of Mary was banned from all parishes in Quebec by Cardinal Louis-Albert Vachon of Quebec in 1987 because the prelate judged the group’s writings were “aberrant” and “gravely erroneous.” In February Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith warned Canadian bishops that they must ban the group from Catholic churches and tell their people that the group cannot be called “Catholic.” The group attributes special powers to its founder, Marie-Paule Giguere, claiming that she is a “mystical priest” and the “incarnation of Mary” in the contemporary world.
Bishop LaRocque said in his letter, “The Army of Mary numbers 25,000 members in 14 different countries. A condemnation by our conference would have an effect far outside the limits of our country.” Bishop LaRocque and Bishop Colin Campbell of Antigonish, Nova Scotia, have each ordained four priests affiliated with the Army of Mary, and are among a handful of bishops in Jamaica, Italy, and other dioceses around the world who have given at least tacit support to the movement.