- Toronto police estimated that 800,000 young people turned out in the rain to see Pope John Paul II when he visited in July. It was the largest gathering of people in the history of Canada. Though nothing spoiled the events of World Youth Day, the lunatic fringe mounted a protest. We are delighted that the media liked our news release on this subject and gave it a good airing. It is reprinted here for your enjoyment.
- “In addition to the hundreds of thousands of young people assembled in Toronto to enthusiastically greet the Holy Father, a motley crew of malcontents has slumbered their way there as well. Consider the following.
- “Joanna Manning, a former nun still reeling over her inability to become a priest, is the spokesman for Challenge the Church, a group (which comprises non-Catholics) that is organizing Alternative World Youth Day. Manning likes condoms. So much so that she and her fellow condomaniacs have already tried to distribute 10,000 condoms to the kids attending World Youth Day. That they didn’t succeed is unimportant: what matters is that they still refuse to distribute condoms with warning labels on them (‘The Surgeon General warns that the holes in condoms are larger than the HIV virus’ would be appropriate).
- “Rosemary Ganley is in Toronto as well. Her intellectual insights into World Youth Day are profound, opining on everything from the ‘authoritarian’ nature of the Vatican to the merits of abortion. She is the leader of the Coalition of Concerned Canadian Catholics. It is not a source of comfort to her that only 100 Canadians have joined her outfit.
- “Tonight Mary Rammerman says Mass. Or at least she will pretend to say Mass. She hails from Rochester, NY. In the 1990s, she partook in many make-believe Masses while dressed in priestly garments giving communion. The priest who allowed this was charged with schism and then ‘fired.’ But Mary believed then, as she believes now, that she’s a priest. Why she hasn’t become a bishop remains a mystery.
- “Finally, the anti-globalization nuts are on hand. They’re angry—angry at the globe. It’s too big. So is the Vatican. ‘I’m angry therefore I am,’ is their signature. It should be quite a show in Toronto.”
