Recently, there was a vote at my local “Catholic” school board pertaining to what types of flags will be flown on board property. The vote was not technically about flying the rainbow flag, but it was, of course, all about flying that flag. On paper, the issue at hand was whether the board would allow flags other than the Canadian flag to be flown…right before “pride” season begins.
In Canada, “pride” season begins when the weather starts to get nicer, and it then ends around Canadian Thanksgiving, which happens in early October. Funnily, the National Hockey League—also known as the Church of Canada—doesn’t play during that time, so the NHL has been largely able to avoid any rainbow drama.
Although recently, the rainbow inclusion movement caught wind of the fact that toothless Canadians and Russians weren’t donning rainbows on their jerseys while whipping vulcanized rubber at Swedes and Finns, so there was an attempt to have “pride” nights at NHL arenas. Happily, more than a few players objected, and it seems that the league might actually drop the “pride” festivities.
At any rate, a massive number of Catholic parents signed up to speak at the board event, and it was truly a good showing of Catholic fervor in favor of the Church’s teaching on sexuality.
I received updates from those who were present, and many courageous parents said very strong things and did what they could to hold the trustees to account. Ultimately, however, the rainbow flag won, and Catholicism lost.
Now, as much as it was exciting to see some fervor from Catholic parents in favor of Catholic orthodoxy in such a way, it was also—for me—highly disappointing. I was not disappointed because of the outcome. I used to work for that school board, and I had to leave because it was a hotbed for Marxist nonsense and the patron saint of the religion department may as well be James Martin. Personally, I am shocked there was even a vote on the issue and surprised that they didn’t just shove the flag down the students’ throats like they do heresy and postmodernist gobbledygook in the classroom.
I do not mean to come off as a pessimist, as I am just trying to be realistic: that board, and virtually every Catholic school board in Canada, is rotten to the core and has been for a long time.
In speaking to some parents, they expressed their dismay with me that the vote did not go their way even though so many valiant things were said and so many parents did their best. While I sympathize, there is a deeper reality that must be considered, and Catholic parents who have any hope in the regular institutions—at least in Canada—need to wake up; and it needs to happen fast.
There was one person absent from the demonstration, a person who could have made all the difference in the world. You guessed it, the bishop.
Sure, there was a priest and a bunch of good Catholics, but the spiritual father who is technically in charge of the religious formation and morals in the schools was absent. But it wasn’t his absence on that day that was an issue—it is his absence over years and decades that is a major issue. You do not get to the point where parents have to explain to supposed Catholic school board trustees that Catholic schools should not fly rainbow flags unless the bishop has utterly failed.
Quite frankly, Catholics have been conditioned to compromise on their morals and expectations for Catholic institutions for a really long time. After the Second Vatican Council, most Catholics with a Catholic sense could feel the change in the atmosphere, and many knew that it wasn’t promising. But they were told to ignore their lying eyes and pretend that the nuclear winter that followed Vatican II was a New Springtime.
These parents have known for decades that the religious education their children have received in the Catholic system here is an abomination…but they have kept their kids in the system. Of course, everyone has their reasons, and I cannot judge personal choices. However, it must also be admitted that if the religious formation in the diocese is so bad that the schools are set to wave the Sodom flag, then there must have been warning signs.
