Conclave:  Imperfect Men

2024 Trip to Eastern Canada, Religious Quest in the Modern Age

I mentioned in my first post on this wonderful film that the ancient procedures of the Roman Catholic Church in choosing a new Pope are insane. But that is not all. Not only is the process far from perfect, so are the candidates. They are imperfect men. Some of them very far from perfect.

Father Ayemi, one of the candidates,  admits he had “a lapse” when he was 30 years old with a nun who was 19 years old.  She made a dramatic unauthorized appearance in the conclave where she caused a stir. The secret is already out.  In addition, there is a child who might be his.  Yet, surprisingly perhaps, he also said, “I sensed the Holy Spirit this morning. I am ready to take this burden.” He believes God has chosen him to lead the Roman Catholic Church, even though if this “lapse” was discovered, it would no doubt rock the Church. As a result, he refuses to excuse himself as a candidate and he has wide support among the Cardinals.

Imagine the carnage to the church if it came out that the Pope had fathered a child!  Eventually it is revealed that other Cardinals are also less than impeccable men. Some Cardinals search for the “least horrible” candidate. Some of the cardinals examine their own hearts and find themselves wanting. One begs others not to vote for him yet they do. Many have deep ambition, but hide it. Is that bad?  Humility is more attractive, but is it better? One Brother says, with a shudder, “It is shameful to be this age and still not know yourself.” Then quotes this: “Ambition is the moth of holiness.”  I don’t know who said that? I am not sure what it means.

 

Clearly, none of these men who are candidates are perfect. But who is perfect? Friedrich Nietzsche once said, “the last Christian died on the cross.”  Some are very far from perfect Christians. Every political or religious process is imperfect. So too is every candidate for any office.

The process actually mirrors our current political malaise.  I wish we could have a thunderbolt from heaven to make things right in our political world. But its not likely to happen.

What that process has never achieved, no matter what Catholics believe, is infallible leadership. That might be the only certainty in this process. Even though in some cases the choice of leadership seems almost divine, in others, the choice seems more Satanic.

So how can such an imperfect process with such imperfect timber create a good Pope? Or a great Pope?  It must be a miracle.

Conclave: An Insane Process

Religious Quest in the Modern Age

I strongly recommend that everyone watch the film Conclave. It tell the story of a fictional conclave conducted by the Cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church to choose a new Pope.

 

Since the Roman Catholic was recently having a real conclave, I thought it would be a good idea to watch this film, before they did. I finished it just in time, one day before the actual concave.  The concave in the film was much more interesting than the real one, which ended swiftly after two ballots. The rule is a Cardinal must achieve 60% of the votes of the Cardinals.

 

I also wanted to consider this as part of my continuing efforts make a religious quest in the modern age.  This is certainly modern quest for a very ancient church.

 

Ralph Fiennes who starred brilliantly in the film along with Stanley Tucci, and one of my favorite actors, John Lithgow. All of them are brilliant as Cardinals. I also heard Fiennes interviewed a couple of days earlier on Amanpour & Company. He indicated that he was not a believing Catholic but said “the God question has been in family for centuries.”

 

What Fiennes emphasized is that the formal ancient procedures for “electing” a Pope are really an insane political process. First, and I think most important, the only ones who can vote are Cardinals under the age of 80 all of whom are males.  Secondly, they can only appoint a man!  Women are out. Obviously, this is not a democratic process in any sense. Cutting out half of the members of the Church is ridiculous. Every one of the other 1.2 billion Catholics has no say whatsoever in who becomes Pope. In the modern age who could accept such a procedure?  Catholics that’s who. None of the Cardinals were elected to their positions either. Popes appointed all of them. In fact, Pope Francis appointed most of them.

 

Yet, the mystery—the real mystery I would submit—is that somehow the procedures work.  How is that possible? After all, the Roman Catholic Church has been around for 2,000 years. No other organization—religious or otherwise—can say that. Even those like me, who think the process is insane, must respect the longevity of the Church.

 

So one of the themes is to reveal how against all odds, the procedure works. Usually the “right” Cardinal is chosen.

 

One of the Cardinals in the film, Brother Ray says one day before the conclave, “I’d say this is a pretty fair vison of hell.”  The Cardinals are called Brothers.  To this, Brother Lawrence, replied, “Don’t be blasphemous Brother Ray, hell arrives tomorrow with the Cardinals.” Such a procedure can’t work. Yet, somehow it does.  At least, so it appears.

Great Art and the Miracle of Sudbury

2024 Trip to Eastern Canada, autumn, Environment

 

This chronicle of our trip across the east half of the country is now drawing to a close. It was a glorious trip, because we have a glorious country. We had a wonderful stay in Ottawa with Chris’ sister, brother-in-law, and niece. With them we visited the Canadian Art Gallery a wonderful place to spend an afternoon. This time we saw mainly new art from students. I also saw and enjoyed Barnett Newman’s Voice of Fire which caused such a great stir when the museum purchased it for $1.76 million in 1990. But now it is considered wrth more than 10 times as much.  A great investment. But I consider such values for art absurd. No art is really worth the prices paid for it, except it must be worth what people are willing to pay for it.

 

I just wanted to make a comment about Sudbury where we went to visit my cousin Bruno and his wife Lily. Bruno was suffering from Parkinson’s disease and died a month or two late. It was great to have one last visit with this gentleman. This is what he was—a true gentle man. Very glad to have one last visit.

 

I want to close this chronicle with some comments about Sudbury, which we had little time to see on account of that visit and our weariness and eagerness to go home.

Sudbury is a miracle story.  It proves that nature always bats last!  We must not forget that. At one time things looked bleak in Sudbury. They were desperate. Sudbury was the world’s largest atmospheric source of sulphur pollution, with vast associated biodiversity damages. The landscape around it was literally a moonscape. I remember the desolation from my first trip through Sudbury in 1967 on the way to Montreal.

 

The damage was caused by the chemicals emitted during the process of mining nickel. The damage was incredible. Some considered Sudbury completely destroyed.

 

Then after realizing the awful devastation, people came together to try to repair that damage. It seemed an insurmountable task.

 

Since the late 1890s, Sudbury was an important part of the mining industry in Canada. That industry created an environmental disaster in the area. There really is no other way to describe it. According to Climatefast,

 

“Sulfur dioxide released into the environment from the smelting of copper and nickel ores caused acid rain, and formed a black coating on rocks in the area, still visible to this day. Surrounding lakes were acidified, wreaking havoc on their ecosystems. Furthermore, copper and nickel accumulated in the soil, making it inhospitable for plants to grow.”

 

40 square miles around the city of Sudbury there was nearly no natural vegetation at all. It was hell. And environmental hell.

In 1971 and 1972, 4 years after I visited the area, NASA used the area for mimicking the surface of the moon for experiments with their prospective astronauts during the Apollo 16 and 17 operations. Sudbury had an international reputation for being a hell hole.

 

People got together and asked themselves what they could do about the disaster. Researchers told them that treating the toxic metal-contaminated soil with lime might help and enable vegetation to grow again. In 1978 volunteers and students including university students from Laurentian University started working at liming the ground and planting seeds of various plants as well as saplings. The campaign was an astonishing success. The area started to regreen.

 

Over 10 million trees were planted in the cleaned-up soil. Amazingly, the city now has some of the cleanest air in Canada! That re-greening project is ongoing. The newly grown trees and shrubs have helped to trap CO2 from the atmosphere.

 

The surrounding area is now habitat for wildlife and renovating the entire community.

 

At the United Nations Biodiversity Conference  (COP 15 ) in Montreal in December of 2022, a landmark agreement was made to guide global action on nature through to 2030. Representatives of 118 governments from around the world gathered for 2 weeks in Montreal and came up with the adoption of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) on the last day of negotiations. That framework agreement tries to address biodiversity loss, and the crucial need to restore biodiversity losses, and protect indigenous rights.

 

The plan includes concrete measures to stop and even reverse nature loss, including putting 30% of degraded ecosystems under legal protection by 2030.

 

At that conference delegates recognized that the stakes for the world could not be higher as the planet was experiencing the largest loss of life since the dinosaurs! One million plant and animal species arenow threatened with extinction, many within in decades.

 

At that conference Laurentian University showcased the important work that had been done in the Sudbury area and what could be accomplished with hard work and dedication.  This has been called “Sudbury’s Regreening Story.”

 

Since the project began the following has been achieved:

 

  • A 98% reduction in air pollution from an industry that is still thriving;
  • Nearly all air quality advisories have been eliminated;
  • 10 million planted trees and shrubs have been planted by the community;
  • 50% of the lost sport fish populations have been restored;
  • More than 3 million tons of carbon have been sequestered by those newly planted trees and shrubs;
  • 22% of the zone that was damaged has been converted into lovely parks.  I can testify to the beauty of much of the area that was once a despoiled wasteland. Unfortunately, because we had a deadline to visit my cousin I did not have time to go back to provide photographic proof. My bad. I will do better next time;
  • One species (aurora trout) has been delisted from the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada ( COSEWIC) which recommends what species should be placed on or taken off of the list of critically endangered species;
  • The area has seen the emergence of a biotech industry based on a sustainable harvest of critical metals for the e-economy.

 

The successful restoration, which is not complete but is ongoing, was made possible by an energetic public, and extensive partnerships between citizens and various governmental, scientific, and business communities. The work here was also instrumental in encouraging the establishment of a very successful international treaty to stop the generation of acid rain.

 

That really is the key—avoiding the catastrophic losses in advance.  The United States has forgotten about this, as under Trump II they are relentlessly dismantling many environmental protections in favor of giving businesses free reign to do about whatever they want. I believe that is a huge mistake. Sudbury shows that to us all. It is much easier to prevent environmental degradation than mitigating it.

 

The community has become involved in the demonstration of how damaged nature can be restored even in extremely difficult circumstances. A story about the project was included in the Jane Goodall film Reason for Hope.  I think the maple leaf symbolizes that.

There is reason for hope! Nature does bat last. But we have to be smart.

 

 

Picking on the Vulnerable

2024 Trip to Eastern Canada, Gender Warfare

 

 

During this trip to eastern Canada we experienced the Republican Party spending millions on LGBTQ issues, even though their polls had shown that not many Republicans cared very much about the issue.

 

Donald Trump warned Americans that under the leadership of the Democratic party they could send their sons to school and they would come back as girls without their knowledge or consent. This is the simplified nonsense that Trump preached. And it was effective. He also told the American people that Kamila Harris looked out for “they/them” and he would look after you!

 

The Republican Party in the US spent millions of dollars on ads attacking the LGBTQ community in the last couple of weeks in the campaign, demonstrating once again that their dominant ideology on this subject, is the ideology of the bully. They want to pick on the most vulnerable people in America. That’s what bullies do.

 

The Republican claim trans people are the demons destroying America.  According to USAfacts, “Approximately 1.14% of the nation’s adult population, or 3 million Americans, identify as transgender.”  How is it possible that less than 2% of the population consisting mainly of the most vulnerable people in the country could possibly be a threat to the country?  This tiny group is a big problem for America? This seems absurd.

 

We should be protecting the most vulnerable not demonizing them. According to the Bible in Matthew 25:40 Jesus said “… inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.” That seems like the Christian attitude to me.  The Republican attitude seems more like the Anti-Christ.  We should be protecting the vulnerable not scapegoating them.  But bullies don’t protect the vulnerable; they attack them. Yet Christians are the most consistent supporters of Donald Trump. How is that possible?

New Brunswick: From the Grand to the not so Grand

2024 Trip to Eastern Canada

St. John River Valley

 

It did not take long for us to renege on our promise to hustle home. After a few hours of travelling on the freeway through New Brunswick we just had to get off.  There was a road that followed the St. John River closely that was paved but only 2 lanes. That was much more to our liking so we took it. And it was great! Even though it was a bit slower.

The St. John Rover Valley is truly grand.  But you could tell we were getting tired. We made very stops to take photographs.

The St. John River is Eastern Canada’s longest river at 418-miles. It runs down the western edge of Nova Scotia along the Quebec border all the way to the Bay of Fundy.

This also brought us to Hartland, home of the longest covered wooden bridge in the world. According to New Brunswick tourism it is the longest “by far.”  Can that be?

The bridge is 1282 ft. (390.75 metres)  long and was certainly the longest we had ever seen. the purpose of the covers was to prevent truss joints from rotting. This one was built in 1921 with the walkway along the side added in 1945. This was a grand bridge. then we went to the not so grand.

 

Grand Falls

In Grand Falls we discovered falls that were far from Grand.  They may have been grand at one time. Not anymore.  They have been emasculated by hydro-electric dams that have turned them into pipsqueak falls. How the mighty have fallen.  80% of the river has turned into a narrow stream. To me it seemed like sadness, not mist hung in the air.  I know we need hydro-electric power, but there sure is a big cost. Is this what “clean” power is all about? All I am saying is that the price of progress is immense.

 

Leaving Cape Breton Highlands National Park

2024 Trip to Eastern Canada, autumn

 

I was sad to leave the area around Ingonish, but that’s life. After a short stop there, we continued on our path along the glorious Cabot Trail. At the edge of Cape Breton Highlands National Park we stopped because I noticed a lovely islet as we passed. As I have said, I love those little islets which I think are symbols of Canada. Small rocky islands in a lake or stream. It turned out this was an exceptional example of exactly that.

From here on the extreme east coast of Cape Breton Island we realized that we were heading back home. From here on in we would be travelling west. We also decided we would not make as many stops. Less meandering. More getting home. When we left the Cabot Trail, we realized we were on the way home. Sad, but we were ready for it. We had spent nearly 5 weeks on the run. It was time to go home.

Autumn is my favorite time of the year. North America, I believe has the greatest autumn colours for foliage in the world.  I consider the forests of eastern North America in autumn to be one of the wonders of the world. I have not seen anything as spectacular in Europe. The fall leaves there to me seem dull. Not as brilliant and varied as they are in Canada any way.   I really don’t know about other countries.  In Canada, particularly in eastern Canada, we are blessed with an outstanding array of fall colours. This I believe is the result of a great variety of trees coupled with the cold climate.  Some thinkers have suggested that there is no spiritual insight without suffering.  That’s why if you go too far south, the colours are no longer as spectacular. So too, I think there is no great autumn colour without suffering. As you need to suffer to become enlightened, so the trees need to supper in the cold to evoke great colours.  Without the suffering, the rewards are thin and shallow gruel.

 

Kletic Lodge: A Gracecful Old Lodge in Trouble

2024 Trip to Eastern Canada, autumn

 

 

 

I wanted to stay one more night in the lodge we stayed at, the Glenhorme Resort. Christiane was not enamoured of this idea. I thought since we were not staying at Inverness as planned, we should stay here. Christiane was keen on moving on. Frankly, we are running out of gas on this journey across half the country and back. We are tired and don’t have the energy for long trips which we once had.  So we decided to move on. She did not have a difficult time persuading me.The New Keltic Lodge

The first time Christiane and I visited Nova Scotia many years ago, in 1979, we flew in on a seat sale, rented a car, and visited as much of the province as we could in a week. That year we  and ended our stay at the Keltic Lodge. It was an elegant old-fashioned Lodge unlike anything we had ever seen before. We had to dress up for dinner. And I had no tie. I had never heard of such a thing, being a very unsophisticated rube from the sticks of Manitoba. One of the staff lent me a tie if I recall as we were allowed to dine, with perhaps some reluctance.

 

 

In 2024, we were saddened to learn that this lovely lodge had been closed for substantial renovations. The old lodge is closed probably for good. A smaller replacement lodge has been built and hopefully the owner, partly government owners, will restore the site to some extent. Frankly, nothing will replace the old lodge.

The complex is situated on Middle Head peninsula which in 1979 Christiane and traversed from the lodge to the end along a spectacular trail that in places led us beside the high bluffs. Those were the days my friend; we thought they’d never end. It was a magnificent walk.

This year we drove right up to the Old Lodge for what might be our last look at it. We remembered that the views from the lodge are stunning. We could sit in the dining room and look out at ocean from two opposite sides of the dining room. It was delightful  being on an isthmus.

We also stopped at Ingonish Beach for a view of the Lodge from there as it shows off the isthmus on which it is located. Truly an awesome location for a magnificent lodge

Cape Breton Trail, Nova Scotia

2024 Trip to Eastern Canada, autumn

 

Just past the Margaree Valley we landed on the famous Cabot Trail.

The Cabot Trail is a scenic 298 km (185 mile) loop drive on Cape Breton Island famous for its sensational views of the coast line, and the highlands, particularly in the autumn.  It is considered one of the most beautiful drives in all of North America, but today, it could not shine, at least when we were there. We should have really stayed another day, but frankly after more than a month on our trip Christiane and I were starting to run out of gas. A trip of more than a month was difficult for us. In our youth it would have been much easier.

Chéticamp, where we had lunch, was settled by Acadians after they were expelled from other parts of Nova Scotia.

At least not with this photographer. We still enjoyed the drive of course. I am not sure how this will show up on the blog but when I looked at this image on my big monitor I noticed hang gliders at the top of the large rock on the rick jutting out of the water.

By this time of day I realized for the first time, that we had past the peak colours of autumn. Still lovely, but the prime was past. I know some people like that too.

 

Autumn 2024 was sensational. I will never forget it.

At Neils Harbour we stopped to take a look at the Lighthouse. I was disappointed at where it was situated, in a small fenced in location.  Of course, I had to try to photograph it with only meager success.

 

We spent the night in Ingonish a few kilometres past this lighthouse that was sadly enclosed in fencing.  showing no respect.

 

Margaree River Valley

2024 Trip to Eastern Canada

 

The area in and around the Margaree River is a delight, consisting of the Margaree River with innumerable branches

The Margaree River is a Heritage River on Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia. It is famous as trout river and Atlantic salmon.

 

 

I remember one time we stayed in the Margaree Valley a few years ago and met a man who came here just for trout fishing. He came from Ireland.  He said this river is known internationally as a fine place to fish.

Cape Breton was originally inhabited by Mi’kmaq people whose lifestyle involved

Fishing and hunting. It was an ocean-centric lifestyle and as a result were likely the first people to encounter European sailors and fishermen in the St. Lawrence estuary. It is believed that John Cabot visited the island in 1497, but their maps were of such poor quality it is apparently difficult to determine. Yet, as we all know the Cabot Trail is name after Cabot. It is also believed that the Portuguese under João Álvares Fagundes likely started a colony here for purposes of fishing in the 1520s. it is believed 200 settlers lived in a village there near Ingonish on the north eastern peninsula of the island, where we spent this night.

 

Inverness Cape Breton Island: No Fix; No Poop

2024 Trip to Eastern Canada

Cape Breton Island

As soon as we got across the border to Cape Breton Island on the Canso Causeway, we picked up tourist information. The attendant said we were just in time for peak colour. That was sensational news. Ominously though she said leaves were starting to drop. I was prepared to take what nature would deliver. It has been a great run of autumn splendour on this trip.  And, like all great beauty,  it was coming to an end.

We had a nice drive to Mabou where we stopped at a small but well supplied grocery store. By well-supplied I mean they even had a good supply of liquor. They had some nice rums. That is unusual. In the US only the big liquor stores have that. Tiny ones never. It was great to be back in civilization.

We drove to the Tulloch Inn in the middle of nowhere and secured our accommodation.  We were a bit surprised how far away it was from all conveniences. We met the owner and Willem from the eastern townships with whom we had a nice conversation and a sip or two of rum.

We went for dinner at Witt’s Public House in the town of Inverness about 18 km. away. That would be inconvenient we realized. We had sea food chowder followed by Haddock and chips which we were sharing, as we do increasingly as we get older. Why don’t we get skinnier?  It’s a conspiracy.  Our haddock was literally the largest piece of fish we had ever seen. The entire restaurant stopped what they were doing and  watched the  waitress deliver this monster of a fish to our table. She it was the biggest fish she had ever seen. Frankly, it was crazy to bring us such a big piece of fish. When we were done a number of people asked her if she had finished it. We hadn’t. Impossible.  A Sumo wrestler could not have eaten it.

Unfortunately I did not take a photo of the fish  so people have to believe my fish story about the big one that got away.

The road back to our B & B in the dark was a challenge.  It was absolutely black dark and there was only an occasional car coming our direction but on the winding roads we were  shocked by the sudden burst of light in our eyes when one did..

After  getting back,  when I returned to the common room to read all by myself the owner seemed frantic and I wondered what was going on. It turned out that for some mysterious reason the pump for the water system was not working.  But he tried to assure he was on the case and would try his best to repair it. Sadly, his best was not good enough. As a result, we had no running water and no use of toilet facilities.  Staying in a B & B we had reserved for nearly a week was not going to work if we had no water, but I decided we would wait till morning to deal with it.

In the morning, the owner told me that he had not been able to fix the pump problem. So there was no water.  No Fix. No Poop.

That about did it for us. The owner had not been able to get a plumber. So regretfully we decided to move. The owner understood and refunded our money for the rest of the stay which we had already paid.

Travelling is full of surprise. And some of them are shitty.