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Phoenix Project Report Part I – The Cross Canada Trip, June 7- July 27
Volume 32 Issue 7, 8 & 9 | Posted: October 9, 2018
Because I had visited the Prairies the previous fall to meet with people about the closure of the Prairie Messenger, my new research did not begin until I crossed the Manitoba boundary entering the vast stretches of Northern Ontario on my way east.
This delay suited my purposes as I was in need of a holiday and an unwinding period after extracting myself from Vancouver Island and in particular Victoria. The previous eighteen months were difficult by any measure. The death of my father, an original supporter and patron of Island Catholic News since its inception in 1986, had absorbed a lot of energy and focus the previous five years, during his last years.
Because I had visited the Prairies the previous fall to meet with people about the closure of the Prairie Messenger, my new research did not begin until I crossed the Manitoba boundary entering the vast stretches of Northern Ontario on my way east.
This delay suited my purposes as I was in need of a holiday and an unwinding period after extracting myself from Vancouver Island and in particular Victoria. The previous eighteen months were difficult by any measure. The death of my father, an original supporter and patron of Island Catholic News since its inception in 1986, had absorbed a lot of energy and focus the previous five years, during his last years.
So for ten days between June 7 and the 17th I was able to relax with family and friends in the region where I had been employed by the Prairie Messenger as its first lay editor in 1981-82, an unsuccessful experiment at the time but one which had laid the groundwork and life path for the work I am doing today.
The Prairie Messenger was the mother lode and cornerstone of Canadian Catholic progressive Prairie journalism. But times have changed and in this new moment what can be sensed to be rising from the ashes? This was the purpose of the seven-week journey, to hear what the players and activists and subscribers are saying.
For more than a hundred years it lead the way, an offshoot of the Benedictine Monastery St. Peter’s settled in the German colony around Humboldt and Muenster where the abbey and college and press reside on a tract of farmland.
Its closure by the Monks sent shock waves across the region and the country especially in the Catholic progressive media circles which had seen the disappearance of the Catholic New Times and The Western Catholic Reporter in the previous decade or so. For the PM to close seemed unthinkable as long as there was an Abbey, as it was a central ministry of the religious community. A newspaper like that requires a visionary entirely dedicated editor and a regularly renewed sense of purpose.
Under Andrew Britz, OSB, this was assured but Andrew died before his time and the paper became a burden on the community rather than the exuberant call to action Andrew had carried out, as had any number of charismatic editors throughout the history of the paper. Having stood briefly in this illustrious lineup, I wanted to see what could occur now, in our time.
I knew that I wanted to do some more such consulting work on the prairies but only after I had heard what was being said in the east. How should we respond to this crisis? I was on a listening venture. My community development practice and training was kicking in, where one listens intently to discern exactly where people are at with an issue before deciding upon any path forward and only then drawing conclusions about what is possible and realistic.
This was the nature of my trip and the first three days driving alone through Northern Ontario seemed an apt preparation, a contemplative entry point. I planned to stay with relatives, family and friends. Island Catholic News (ICN) has subscribers in every region including Thunder Bay but in this case they were preoccupied with family affairs so the first night I stayed at a motel in Nipigon, an hour east of Thunder Bay.
The Birchville was recommended by my cousin Alan Jamieson in Timmins where I was going to stay the second night. He and his sister had made a long road trip to move her to the West Coast the year before so he knew the way which was a convenience and consolation for me as entering Northern Ontario from the West felt a psychological barrier.
While I have driven across Canada any number of times, including 42 years earlier in 1976 to stay with the same cousin and his family in Timmins, I had not driven west to east alone I realized as I prepared for my trip. Northern Ontario is remote, isolated and bound by the Precambrian shield which meant the two-lane highway had been carved out of sheer rock faces all the way along.
It is an intriguing landscape but clearly intimidating after the bold flatness of the prairies and the mountainous forests of BC. Signage is limited so it is easy to get disoriented, and there is poor radio reception.
Overall the drive was almost exhilarating, certainly renewing and I turned off the Trans Canada at Wawa to cut east to Timmins on a lesser highway.
I stayed with fifteen different individuals, my kids, siblings, other relatives and old friends as well as three nights in hotels over fifty nights, each one repeating itself while reporting in upon the return leg. It had a nice symmetry indeed.
At Timmins my cousin Alan and I stated that we both looked more like our fathers, both recently deceased. He had done research into our First Nations grandfather’s background offering fresh information and a new perspective on the thematic family background.
Alan had decided early in his teaching career to live and develop his profession in the Timmins region after growing up as I did on military bases in Canada, and in his case Europe. As a result he made quite a contribution in the region. As an Anglophone he was educated to teach in the French language and became the principal of the Francophone High School for the region. This has always seemed to me an astonishing feat revealing dedication and uncommon ability.
Alan and Janet have been receiving Island Catholic News for a number of years and are typical in a way of the forward-looking readership from a variety of faith and denominational backgrounds. The United Church of Canada is their spiritual roots and home. Alan also told me of the edifying experience of serving in the ecumenical soup kitchens in the region. It was a privilege to stay with them.
Janet’s parting advice was to watch out for moose on the highway as I headed down to Toronto for a meeting. The contrast between Northern and Southern Ontario is stark once you enter into cheek-by-jowl cities and sixteen-lane highways in and out of the grand leviathan city that is Toronto.
TORONTO
It was simple to follow Ted Schmidt’s directions to his home in Scarborough, in Toronto’s east end. He and Joan raised three daughters there. Ted is the former editor of Catholic New Times, during its final stages as a progressive national paper. It was converted to an on-line site but did not last. Its manager John Quinn attended a gathering convened by Ted on June 20 at St. Basil’s College on the St. Michael’s University campus.
I had studied theology at St. Mike’s in the mid 1970s, so it was interesting to get in touch with the feelings from way back then.
Also there were two Catholic religious in attendance at the consultation, Redemptorist Father Paul Hansen and Basilian Father Bob Holmes, both social justice leaders in their religious orders. Also in attendance were author and activist Len Desroches and Kevin Spurgaitis, who has done work on digital conversion of print media for the United Church of Canada. David Szollosy, one time social justice director for the Victoria Diocese, was consulted over the phone.
Some attendees said they still valued a newspaper in hand but the general consensus was that digital was the only way to go. Kevin pointed out that the United Church Observer is heading in that direction for its national publication as is the Anglican national paper.
I explained that I was not pitching any specific idea except that ICN served as a sort of model which might bear relevance for the changes in the church and the need to communicate prophetic Catholicism developments among a certain sort of readership nationally. I animated the discussion but no one was shy about giving their opinion. The conversation was interesting and helpful as a further revelation of this eastern urban sensibility among social activists with a Catholic faith basis. It reinforced my feeling that each region will continue to promote its own unique preoccupations and style.
They urged me to see Joe Gunn and Tony Clarke in Ottawa which I was able to do. I was still left with the enduring puzzle of why they all felt so strongly that digital was the only way to go when it had failed for them with CNT. I did not push it except to say I have reservations that there is a yet unseen vulnerability once everything has converted to the web. This would be a political reservation in these crypto-fascist times. I also think small journals might best be left in the optional form of print.
Ottawa proved a revelation with its progressive Saint Joseph’s parish where I attended Mass. I took an armload of back issues of ICN to place in the printed material area. I could see during the after-Mass gathering how they were being picked up by parishioners when I was actively engaged in conversation about the project.
My hosts while in Ottawa was an old pal from New Brunswick Days Walter Hughes, and his gracious wife Petra Notier. They attend Saint Joseph’s, Walter having served on the parish council. There I was introduced to L’Arche Canada Director John Rietschlin and Hill Times Editor Jim Creskey by Joe Gunn who is director of Citizens for Public Justice.
On another occasion, my sister Christine and I met with her former theology professor Alex Campbell and Marlene Campbell who live in the Unitarian community complex in the city. Long time subscribers and frequent visitors to Victoria, the Campbells are representative of the progressive spirituality background of people encountered on the trip in every region.
In Montreal I met with the droll author and insightful religious educator Moira Carley, Archdiocese social justice coordinator Brian McDonough and subscriber and contributor Sheila Cameron of Arnprior as well as well as my ethics professor Holy Cross Father Dick Renshaw, and Tony Walsh scholar Mathieu Langlois. In every case a whole world of interest in the themes covered by ICN opened up.
With Brian McDonough, my sister Christine and I attended liturgy at the Mohawk nation church where the remains of St. Kateri Tekawitha are kept and venerated midst a Jesuit mission museum and interpretive centre on the life of the 17th-century Catholic saint.
Brian made a commitment to relate to a Native parish as part of his Truth and Reconciliation process. It felt a privilege to step back in history to this site at Kanawake. The combination of the historic Jesuit mission, the current First Nations parish and the veneration of the Lily of the Mohawk saint and the contemporary interpretive centre of the significance of her life made a strong impression.
After Montreal I made my way to New Brunswick to meet with old university friends who have stayed on the progressive spirituality path since we studied and worked together in the early 1970s.
These included a philosophy professor and Christian activist Hugh Williams in the village of Debec near Woodstock in Carleton County, successful businessman and heritage preserver Richard Carpenter of Moncton, as well as Gerry and Doug Carter of Lincoln near Oromocto, and Bill Johnson, painter and artist in Fredericton.
In each case there was a persistent thematic conversation that linked strongly to my journey’s purpose. It was most edifying.
Hugh and his wife, for example, run an agency titled Metapraxis that advocates and assists the handicapped find training for gainful employment. This is combined with Hugh’s history of going back to the land in the late 1960s. In rural Carleton County many farms were abandoned after the Second World War, so he was able to homestead there developing an alternative Christian community and doing popular educator.
Dick Carpenter met me in Sackville at the historic Marshlands Inn for a meal together. We worked together in 1971 as the provincial co-coordinators of the Opportunity for Youth Program and have stayed in touch through common Christian values in social justice and human rights. His company has created many jobs for ordinary New Brunswickers by restoring heritage properties throughout the province.
Gerry and Doug Carter, long time parish activists in music ministry, are studying the works of John Shelby Spong and Diarmid O’Murchu at the local Anglican parish.
My university roommate from St. Thomas University in Fredericton, Bill Johnson is married to the present day President of STU, Dawn Russell, also an alumni.
Bill is an accomplished artist and painter. Their dedication to St. Thomas has distinguished itself with progressive programs in women’s studies, journalism, First Nations studies and other community-oriented initiatives. St. Thomas was my own formation schooling in community development and social justice and liberation theology with Father Renshaw with Hugh Williams and Bill Johnson, and Walter Hughes. It was lovely to reconnect in person.
After the real holiday time of the Maritimes, which was the only time on the trip that I was even half tempted to reconsider moving to another part of Canada, it was time to head west.
New Brunswick had not changed, but rather seemed even better preserved, and more beautiful, truly a picture province, a part of Canada where the charm remains unscathed by time.
More time in Montreal and then Ottawa followed where I met with Tony Clarke and Rick Haughian once again and was able to follow the World Cup soccer games, the month-long tournament ultimately won delightedly by my darlings France. I spent an evening with National L’Arche director John Reitschlin at the home of Walter and Petra to discuss the Phoenix project and other issues. He impressed upon me how L’Arche does prophetic work.
Some of the Ottawa conversations with John, and the Campbells, Drs. Tony Clarke and Rick Haughian, former president of the Catholic Health Association of Canada were among the highlights of the trip. I will report next issue on the details of those and other important conversations.
Leaving Ottawa I had breakfast with Sheila Cameron in Almonte then on to my cousin’s place in Timmins that evening despite the wildfire at Temagami between North Bay and Timmins. The fires were moving east so I was able to get through easily. The BC fires were controlled by the time I went through.
Another overnight at Nipigon after visiting the tourist bureaus and trading posts at Wawa, Marathon and really enjoying the Great Lakes environs. I reached Winnipeg on the 13th to prepare for three major events on the 15th at St. Boniface. First was the World Cup Final!
The Archdiocese of St. Boniface was celebrating its 200th anniversary on the same day that Bishop Remi De Roo had also convened at Christ the King Parish, a family reunion for the De Roo and De Pape clan, which originally settled in Swan Lake, Manitoba a hundred years ago. At 95 he spearheaded and hosted the event where people gathered from as far away as New Zealand and California.
After a few days in my favourite large Canadian city I went to Saskatoon for three days with family then on for the Ordination in Calgary of Roman Catholic Women priest Bishop Jane Krzyanowski of Regina who is married to Felix, a Catholic priest. It was fun when Felix remembered me from my time in Muenster in 1982. They invited my young family to a home liturgy in Humboldt and still remembered fondly my wife Penny who died at age 65 in Saskatoon in May 2017.
I stayed with my daughter Sarah and her husband Nathan in their new home, with its organic garden, in northwest Calgary. I went to Edmonton for a meeting organized by former Senator and Catholic editor Douglas Roche, staying with a cousin on my mother’s side, Kathy and her husband Philip Pegg.
Doug, whose life mission is the peace mandate of the gospels, served as Ambassador for Canada to the United Nations for Peace and Disarmament, called together an interesting group including Kathleen Feehan a former member of his 1965 board of directors with Western Catholic Reporter.
This was the progressive weekly he founded which was recently cancelled by the local Edmonton Bishop. Its final editor Glen Argan was in attendance. He is now associated with the mainstream liturgical publication Living With Christ.
The three-hour meeting included subscriber Gerry Archibald, Doug’s neighbour in his building in downtown Edmonton; Brian Holdsworth, an expert in digital communication and youth ministry, as well as former university president Rev. Mike McCaffrey who has sociological training.
The conversation with the Doug Roche group plus the Saskatchewan people including Dr. John Thompson, and St. Peter’s Abbey Benedictine Father Lawrence DeMong, as well as professors Jim Penna and Don and Millie Kerr, all in Saskatoon, helped to focus where the energy could emerge for a prairie paper to arise.
These conversations are meant to be continued which I intend to follow up on in October when I will be returning to the region for a Thanksgiving Family Reunion in Calgary.
I took the Yellowhead west, staying in Kamloops at Barnhartvale with my family friends The Andrews and then on for a few days in Vancouver to meet with some subscribers and family members.
I am planning to return to Vancouver in September to do a similar sort of conversation animation work with our fifty or so subscribers in the city. The purpose is to expand and consolidate the regional base of the paper.
I stayed with long-time subscribers and gay activists Kevin Simpson and Don Mean, a married couple with long histories of promoting gay rights and recognition on both the Catholic Church (Dignity) and the Anglican (Integrity). They attend St. Margaret’s Cottage Parish where some of my family members are also associated.
Part II next issue with insights from discussions as well as conclusions from the research.