This work which has a strong cross community dimension is about establishing the facts and does not glorify war or make any political points. I think for example of the ground breaking work being done to find out about the soldiers from here who enlisted with the 6th Connaught Rangers. I keep meeting Catholics who are very interested in the historical facts of the war. It is clear, for example, as we move through the decade of centenaries some Catholics living here have been keen to find out about family members who enlisted as soldiers during the First World War. I would point to signs to suggest some Catholics want to remember those killed in wars. As a consequence, for the most part, Remembrance Sunday for many Catholics here is therefore either forgotten or ignored. I would also suggest there is a moral conundrum for many Catholics wherein many will point to the fact that it is only British soldiers who are remembered and not everyone who was killed in war. For Catholics living here I would suggest it is different for historical reasons and because of all the “political baggage” that we attach to wearing a poppy. The issue is not a theological one, there is no Catholic Church rule to say we should not wear poppies or remember the military dead. I purposely mention growing up here in the North to contrast this experience with Catholics in England where in most Catholic churches, Remembrance Sunday would have been observed with large numbers of Catholics wearing a red poppy symbol. ![]() Personally speaking as a Catholic growing up in Northern Ireland, remembering soldiers killed in the world wars was not part of my church tradition and I imagine that this would have been the same for most of those who were brought up here as Catholics. My point in describing the contrast between the two churches is to consider if this is as good as it gets or if it is possible to find ways for a more inclusive approach to Remembrance Sunday. The closest in words we came to it was a reference to praying for those killed in warfare during the Prayer of the Faithful that said the Catholic Church values highly the religious concept of “remembrance”, particularly in a Eucharistic context (“Do this in memory of me”), in which the past becomes present and in each celebration of the Eucharist, our dead are remembered. The congregation was about its usual size, but I did not see anyone wearing a poppy or any other symbol to acknowledge it was Remembrance Sunday. ![]() The contrast on that particular day could not have been more startling. After a brief conversation with the minister, I then drove less than a mile to the nearest Catholic Church which is in Sacred Heart Parish where I am the parish priest. ![]() The church was filling up with most of the congregation wearing poppies. Rob Breakenridge is host of ‘Afternoons with Rob Breakenridge’ on Global News Radio 770 Calgary and a commentator for Global News.Last year on Remembrance Sunday I called into Joanmount Methodist Church in North Belfast a short time before the service was to start. That passion is strong enough to overcome the occasional manifestation of ignorance or indifference. It speaks well of Canadians that we are largely quite passionate about honouring our veterans. It’s less likely that controversy and outrage is driving that trend, but rather that a focus on awareness and education has created the conditions for us to be offended at perceived slights of Remembrance Day or the poppy. Furthermore, a whopping 85 per cent of respondents said they’d be wearing a poppy in the lead-up to Remembrance Day - again, a two-point increase from the year before and an eight-point increase from 2017. The good news here is that Canadians do care and they do understand the importance of all of this.Ī survey released in November of last year showed that the number of Canadians planning to mark Remembrance Day was up two percentage points from 2018 and 12 points from 2017. ![]() If we want the appreciation of Remembrance Day to carry over into future generations, we need more than just peer pressure and public shaming.
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