THE EARMARK

Okay, we admit it:  The above headline is a randomly generated combination of words that got spit out of a computer.  But it turns out that there’s a news story to which it correlates.

It seems that Stephen Harper, the prime minister of Canada (premier ministre du Canada), attended the state funeral of a Catholic governor general (gouverneur général) and was offered the traditional wafer representing the body of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (notre Seigneur et Sauveur Maurice Richard.)  And based on what happened next, let’s just hope the Prime Minister was on Atkin’s or something like that…

Harper, a devout Protestant, attended last week’s state funeral for Canada’s former governor general, Romeo LeBlanc, during which a Catholic priest offered him a communion host.

Television images, some of which have been posted on YouTube, showed Harper receiving the host. The camera remained on the premier for several seconds but it did not show him actually place the wafer into his mouth…

A Catholic official, vicar general Brian Henneberry, raised the controversy by openly wondering what Harper had done with the wafer.

Henneberry, who is chancellor of Saint John in New Brunswick where the funeral took place, said it would be scandalous had the prime minister put it in his pocket.

Our good friend Dennis DiClaudio at Indecision Forever notes that it’s simply un-Canadian to judge a head of state based on whether or not he partakes in an archaic medieval tribute to blood sacrifice; that tends to be the domain of the United States.

But just as Christ died for the sins of others, so too are American politicians covering our allies’ asses in the eyes of the Lord.  As if anticipating that Harper would one day refuse the body of Christ, prominent Catholic leaders like Ted Kennedy, Vito Fossella and Mark Foley have been consuming the blood of Christ at a frenetic pace for decades — all for Canada’s sake, of course.

Praise the Lord for good allies!

Tags: Canada, Mark Foley, Stephen Harper, Ted Kennedy, Vito Fossella