Pope Francis received the Bishops of Canada on Tuesday, who are in Rome on their ad Limina visit.
Many subjects were addressed, Vatican Radio reported. Social challenges and pastoral subjects for the Church in that country, one of the most secularized in the world, where practices are permitted that challenge ethical subjects, such as assisted reproduction, human cloning, euthanasia and assisted suicide.
For its part, the Church stresses subjects such as world peace, disarmament, sustainable development and protection of the environment, as well as immigrants and refugees.
Among the topics addressed were mistreatment of minors in cases of abuse, which occurred in the past, for which the Canadian Church has asked for forgiveness, and measures to be implemented so that the problem is not repeated.
In their audience with the Pope, the Bishops also talked about the on-going fruitful ecumenical and inter-religious endeavor, in favor of the defense of the principle of solidarity and the coexistence of peoples, given the recent attack on a mosque in Quebec, and U.S. President Donald Trump’s restrictive measures on immigration.
Canada’s population of 35 million is a mosaic of individuals of different origins, grouped in two cultural and linguistic areas linked to colonization. The country is bilingual and multi-cultural, English and French being the official languages. Forty per cent of the population is baptized Catholic, one third is Protestant. Muslims constitute 2% of the population, followed by Jews, Buddhists and Hindus who are 1% of the population.
