The Fallout from the Holy Communion Affair

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Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper

Photo Courtesy: http://scrapetv.com/

The Telegraph-Journal of St. John, New Brunswick, in its July 8 report mentioned that Prime Minister Stephen Harper had pocketed the holy communion he was given when he attended the funeral Mass in honour of late Governor-General Romeo LeBlanc in Memramcook. The report triggered a lot of hullabaloo in the Canadian media, blogs and a certain quarter of the Canadian Catholic Church.

Mr. Stephen Harper later denounced the original report as a "low-point" in Canadian journalism giving the impression to the public that he had dishonoured the Catholic faith and committed a sacrilege against the holy communion, considered the holiest of the holies in the belief system of the Catholic Church, reports The Toronto Star.

On July 28, the Telegraph-Journal made a front-page apology by saying: "...the Telegraph-Journal published a story about the funeral mass celebrating the life of former Governor-General Romeo LeBlanc that was inaccurate and should not have been published. We pride ourselves in maintaining the high standards of journalism and ethical reporting, and regret this was not followed in this case."

This daily also said: "The Telegraph-Journal sincerely apologizes to the Prime Minister for the harm that this inaccurate story has caused. We also apologize to reporters Rob Linke and Adam Huras and to our readers for our failure to meet our own standards of responsible journalism and accuracy in reporting."

The paper apologized to the two reporters because their original report did not contain the controversial item of pocketing the holy communion. Some editor later inserted this piece into the news before publication.

The paper's apology was followed by an unexpected fallout. Shawna Richer, editor, and James Irving, publisher, were removed from their positions.

It is reported that Prime Minister Stephen Harper accepted the newspaper's public apology.

President Barack Obama Visits Canada

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On his first foreign visit as the President, Barack Obama was in Canada on a seven-hour visit today. " I love this country," he said and thousands of spectators waiting in cold and muggy weather returned their respect and admiration from far.

Canadian Governor General Michelle Jean, who is also a black, received the US President at the airport in Ottawa, capital of Canada. She is said to have told the President: "You would never have imagined that you and I could both be here like today, coming from African descent," reports the Toronto Star.

President Obama then went to the Parliament Hill and met with Prime Minister Stephen Harper and promised closer cooperation on the troubled economy and environment. They also talked amicably about border security, war in Afghanistan and free trade.

The President said: "I came to Canada on my first trip as president to underscore the closeness and importance of the relationship between our two nations and to reaffirm the commitment of the United States to work with friends and partners to meet the common challenges of our time," reports the Canadian Press.

President Obama promised to come to Canada again in warmer days. Canadians would be happy to have him in their midst as they have a special fascination for him.