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And of the right of association, he adds:
Men are by nature social, and consequently they have the
right to meet together and to form associations with their
fellows. They have the right to confer on such associations
the type of organization which they consider best calculated
to achieve their objectives. They have also the right to
exercise their own initiative and act on their own
responsibility within these associations for the attainment
of the desired results. [As We insisted in Our] [The]
encyclical Mater et Magistra, the founding of a great many
such intermediate groups or societies for the pursuit of
aims which it is not within the competence of the individual
to achieve efficiently, is a matter of great urgency. Such
groups and societies must be considered absolutely essential
for the safeguarding of man's personal freedom and dignity,
while leaving intact a sense of responsibility.
Tempusfiigit, I must conclude.
Justice is a transcendental value, one among others but
one which blends with the others in this God of Love, and
can only be, to plagiarize Matthew, the love of one's
neighbour. Juxtaposed by Matthew to the love of God, it is
in loving God that we must love our neighbour. As well, as
are the laws of God so are the laws of man, at least in
Canada. Through our laws, we Canadians have adopted these
two fundamental laws; one even is part of our constitution,
and the other is of a quasi constitutional nature.
Before concluding, I will take advantage, if I may, of
this very special audience, who could, in my opinion to
everyone's benefit, greatly help me advance the teaching in
schools of the role of religions and their churches in the
history of Canada. Let me explain. I am the president of
Historica Inc., a non-profit society which for the last
three years has taken on the mission of promoting the better
teaching of our history. Three years ago, two provinces did
not even offer a course in the history of Canada other than
at the university level, and the other provinces offered at
it different levels as an option from a selection of courses
including ballet, cooking, sewing, pottery and others. All
of this has changed, and without going into detail, Canadian
history is now taught "a Mari usque ad Mare". Historica is a
large organisation which is supported by thousands of
people, all volunteers, except for the many professors who,
for two years now this summer, at our expense and with pay,
have been taking a week of intensive classes on how to
better teach our country's history.
We have a web site,
http://historica.ca. You will see
that we promote a particularly different, and in my opinion,
more interesting way of teaching history to our youth. You
can also have free access to the Encyclopedia of Canada on
the web, which we have just bought for all of you for eight
million dollars. Which brings me to the point of this
extension to my speech.
The history of New France, and after, the history of
Quebec and of Canada, cannot really be understood if we do
not understand the role which was played by religions, their
churches and those who served them. The Catholics of
Brittany and of Normandy, the Huguenots from La Rochelle,
the quarrels of the Jesuits, the bishops and the Superior of
the Sulpicians of Montreal, but also their contributions to
the discovery and the development of the country (I have in
mind here particularly the Oblates and the Far North)
including the Scottish Catholics, fleeing intolerance,
shipwrecked near Malbaie and welcomed by the residents of
the North Shore and who are still there. There are many
"Harveys" there, among others, who only speak French, and
have done so for many generations.
Yesterday afternoon, during an meeting of the executives
of Historical board of directors, I asked that a study of
how much room we should reserve for the contribution of our
churches in the teaching of our history be placed on the
agenda of our annual meeting in Mississauga from October 25
to 27. Depending upon the decisions taken at this annual
meeting, and I am confident that they will be positive, I
believe St. Paul University could have a role to play.
There. I have finished with my little personal spiel, and if
time permits, I will accept - albeit uneasily - your
questions. In any case, thank you for having invited me.
Antonio Lamer
Translated by Juliette Champagne, PhD |