2000: The year Canadian journalists  had to report religion

2000: Journalists report religion

Amazing what a funeral and a federal election can do. For Canadians in 2000, the two events finally pushed religious issues onto the front-page and top story slots. It's somewhat ironic that in a country where there is no legislated separation of church and state that the population and its journalists should be so squeamish about discussing and displaying religious beliefs in public. Somehow, doing so just isn't polite; and whatever else Canadians are, we're polite. So what changed minds in 2000? )Black and the Bishop                  J The funeral              É The election

It's that politeness which made the public quarrel between publishing magnate Conrad Black and the Catholic bishop of Calgary so surprising. In the Spring of 2000, Bishop Fred Henry intervened during the long and bitter strike by editorial staff at the Calgary Herald newspaper. Mr. Black saw this intervention as meddling, and issued written and verbal rebukes to the bishop, questioning his motives and knowledge. In the Calgary Herald (which his company owns), Mr. Black wrote of Bishop Frederick Henry, "If your jumped-up little twerp of a bishop thinks I'm not a very good Catholic, I think he's a prime candidate for an exorcism." In return, the bishop suggested that Mr. Black -- a convert to Catholicism -- read some of his adopted church's teachings on social issues. The nastiness of the words exchanged, and the very public way in which the spat was carried out, was a first for Canadian media-church relations.

JThe funeral
While there had been signs that former prime minister Pierre Trudeau was seriously ill -- the Canadian media went on a premature death watch when he was hospitalized  -- his death on September 28 elicited an outpouring of commentary, eulogy and sympathy for his family. There were a number of pieces about Mr. Trudeau's own strong Catholic beliefs, and it was no surprise when his funeral was held in the Notre Dame Basilica in Montreal on October 3. A number of former Canadian prime ministers and politicians attended, and as there has seldom been mention of their personal religious affiliations, it was remarkable to watch as Jean Chrétien, Brian Mulroney, Joe Clark, John Turner all came forward to receive communion during the mass, participation which is officially reserved for Catholics. Although they had never trumpeted their religious beliefs, as they came forward, it was a reminder that Canada is indeed a predominantly Roman Catholic country, if only nominally, and that its leadership has reflected the demographic numbers.

As a televised event, Mr. Trudeau's funeral was perhaps the most-watched religious ceremony in recent Canadian history. As well as being an historical and even political milestone, it can be argued that it was also a key religious moment.
 

ÉThe election
Talk of a federal election had abounded before Mr. Trudeau's death, and it wasn't long after that Jean Chrétien dropped the writ. Campaigning prior to the election, Canadian Alliance leader Stockwell Day had already said that he would not perform public duties on Sunday, as it was the day he set aside for church and to be with his family. He kept that promise throughout the election, including the critical first day, October 22. Mr. Day's religious beliefs would dog him throughout the election, particularly following a CBC television documentary that included his belief in creationism. Journalists were sent running to find academics who could give them descriptions of the alternative view to Darwinian evolution. In some ways, it turned into a Canadian Scopes trial, with varying degrees of skepticism and name-calling. (Religious leaders, including the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) implored the media, public and politicians to respect differences in belief.) It did, however, spotlight the debate over whether or not a political leader's religious beliefs should be up for discussion in the public sphere.

Mr. Day and the Alliance party had played a dangerous game of attempting to attract and solidify support among conservative Christians while trying to still fears among fiscal conservatives that personal religious beliefs would not impinge on public policy, particularly with regard to social issues such as abortion and family law. There had also been an ugly game played in predominantly Jewish ridings in southern Ontario, where Alliance candidates appealed to voters on the basis of public support for religious schools, and by attacking the Liberals for backing UN condemnation of Israel's actions in the Middle East. Elinor Caplan, the incumbent Liberal -- was one of the prime targets of the critique, and herself accused Alliance supporters of anti-Semitism.

While the return of the Liberals to power on November 27 was small surprise, the 2000 election may have finally convinced Canadian journalists of the importance of being aware of religious issues when reporting politics. It may also have made religious bodies less skittish about speaking out in public on social and moral issues.

The new year had scarcely begun when a minister of the Metropolitan Community Church in Toronto, a community serving the gay community, held a double marriage ceremony for one male and one female couple. While both couples had already had blessing ceremonies, this event was arranged specifically to challenge provincial law stipulating that marriage licences may only be granted to heterosexual couples. The Rev. Brent Hawkes used the reading of banns leading up to the marriage ceremony to aid a court challenge of this law.

And the ceremony drew the Governor General and the CCCB into conflict.  In reply to an invititation to attend the ceremony, Gov.-Gen. Adrienne Clarkson sent regets and good wishes, a move that brought public censure by the CCCB. Regardless of how one feels about the actions and beliefs of politicians like Stockwell Day, or the public stands taken by bodies like the CCCB, 2000 may have been a pivotal year for the reporting of religion in Canada.
 

Joyce Smith is an online news editor and continues to do research at the intersection of religious and media studies.

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