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National Post
17-05-2025
- Politics
- National Post
Carney to meet Zelenskyy in Rome and attend Pope's inaugural mass Sunday
Prime Minister Mark Carney landed in Rome Saturday, where he is meeting with other world leaders and will attend the inaugural mass of Pope Leo XIV on Sunday. Article content Article content Carney, a devout Catholic, is making his first official visit to the Vatican. He did not attend the funeral of Pope Francis as it took place two days before the federal election last month. Article content Carney is scheduled to meet with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni Saturday after meeting with Italian President Sergio Mattarrella earlier in the day. Article content He's also expected to sit down with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz Sunday, part of a concerted effort to meet with other G7 leaders ahead of the global summit Canada is hosting in Kananaskis, Alta., next month. Article content Article content The prime minister is also scheduled to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Saturday. Article content Zelenskyy — who is also in Rome to attend the papal inauguration — spoke with Carney by phone after the prime minister's election win. Article content Carney, who was greeted on the tarmac by Canadian Ambassador to Italy Elissa Goldberg and Canada's Ambassador to the Holy See Joyce Napier as well as other officials, will wrap his first day in Rome with a meeting with European Union President Ursula von der Leyen. Article content A delegation of 13 Liberal MPs, who are Catholic or represent ridings with a large Catholic base, is also travelling with Carney. Article content Former cabinet minister Jean-Yves Duclos, Nova Scotia MP Jaime Battiste and Ottawa MPs Mona Fortier and Marie-France Lalonde are among those on the trip. Article content Senators Toni Varone and Tony Loffreda are also part of the Canadian delegation, as are Assembly of First Nations National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak and Metis National Council President Victoria Pruden. Article content
Globe and Mail
17-05-2025
- Business
- Globe and Mail
How much will Mark Carney's Catholic faith inform the way he governs Canada?
Prime Minister Mark Carney's trip to the Vatican Sunday for the mass marking the inauguration of Pope Leo XIV is both a diplomatic overture and an event of personal significance. Mr. Carney is Roman Catholic, and as he noted in a statement upon the election of Pope Leo, a new papacy is a major milestone for the faithful. 'This is a historic moment for the Catholic community and for all those who look to the Vatican for guidance,' he said. His trip in turn raises questions about whether or how, as he governs Canada, he may seek that guidance. At the start of the recent election campaign, he told reporters that he doesn't talk publicly about his faith or spirituality. 'What's relevant is that it informs my sense of responsibility and service,' he said. 'I feel that I should serve our country the best I can.' But there are numerous signs of how faith plays a role in his life. On the morning of his first foreign trip as Prime Minister, before he met with any diplomats or dignitaries in Paris, Mr. Carney visited Notre-Dame cathedral, which had been severely damaged by fire in 2019 and recently reopened. He and his wife, Diana, paused in front of small bins of white votive candles. Catholics light candles as a visible sign of prayer, and Mr. Carney bought one for himself and one for his wife. As he touched a match to the wick, he told a passerby – in French – that he was saying a little prayer for Quebec and for Canada. Mr. Carney is a regular churchgoer. He went to mass the morning the election campaign began and twice on Easter Weekend, in the final days of the campaign. While Governor of the Bank of England, he was a parishioner of St. Mary's Church in Hampstead and was the guest of honour for its 200th anniversary celebrations. He is also a self-professed admirer of Benedictine monk Laurence Freeman, the head of the World Community for Christian Meditation, whose seminars he has addressed. The influence of the church on Mr. Carney goes beyond the pew. In a statement marking the death of Pope Francis, he relayed a story about when the two met in 2014. 'Pope Francis issued a challenge that has guided me ever since. He likened humanity to wine – rich, diverse, full of spirit – and the market to grappa – distilled, intense, and at times disconnected,' Mr. Carney said. 'He called on us to 'turn grappa back into wine,' to reintegrate human values into our economic lives.' Well after that encounter, Mr. Carney published his book Value(s): Building a Better World for All and included the anecdote in its opening pages. To observers, the tome is a clear riff on Christian teachings that the economy exists not to be a self-serving beast but to uplift. 'Mark Carney maintains that the values of economic dynamism and efficiency should be joined with those of solidarity, fairness, responsibility and compassion,' wrote Catholic Register columnist Glen Argan earlier this year. 'All popes since the First World War (and perhaps some before that) have said much the same.' In fact, Pope Leo XIV's namesake, Pope Leo XIII (1878-1903), laid some of the foundations of modern Catholic thought on the economy, as the Second Industrial Revolution gave rise to concerns that workers' rights and dignity were being destroyed. In choosing the name Leo, Cardinal Robert Prevost tied back to that work. But he also cast forward to concerns that artificial intelligence creates new challenges for human dignity and labour, which he intends to address with his papacy. Mr. Carney is bullish on AI but has also reflected on its risks. His party's platform promised more investment in the technology – but also a close eye on its impacts to 'ensure no one is left behind.' In the cabinet he announced this past week, he named a first-ever Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation, though the portfolio's mandate is currently undefined. Unlike politicians in the United States, where having no religious affiliation can render a political career a non-starter, Canadian politicians who are practising Catholics have long faced scrutiny over the balance between their faith and their work. It is a particular sore spot in Quebec, where politicians have come under criticism for publicly endorsing their own Catholic faith, while mandating secularism for the government itself. Before Justin Trudeau even became Liberal leader, his Catholic faith was questioned by rival politicians, who said he wasn't Catholic enough to be an appropriate guest speaker at a Catholic school. Mr. Trudeau, at the time, cited his faith in his personal opposition to abortion, though he supported a woman's right to access one. Several years later, he would say that his position had 'evolved' and that he no longer personally opposed abortions. Mr. Carney has said that he 'absolutely' supports a right to choose. When William McGrattan, the president of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, was asked by a Catholic news outlet to respond to Mr. Carney's position, he replied: 'I would say that someone who is in politics and claims to be living according to their faith and making such statements, we see the disconnect, and this is unfortunate with many of our politicians.' Brian Dijkema, the president, Canada at Cardus, has many questions about how Mr. Carney's faith will make itself manifest in government. The non-partisan think tank, whose work is informed by Christian theology, has played host to Mr. Carney numerous times. As an example, Mr. Dijkema pointed to the expansion of Canada's medical assistance in dying regime. Allowing broad access to MAID conflicts with Mr. Carney's focus on ensuring that the economy supports the most vulnerable, he said. 'If we're not taking care of those people, you know, I think there are legitimate questions to be asked about how Christian that view of economics is.' Showcasing a Christian view of economics while running central banks is not the same as having the power that comes from running a government, Mr. Dijkema said. 'Power is intended to execute justice, and justice biblically, and through our tradition is often the question of justice for those who can't speak for themselves or who are too weak to do so,' he said. 'We'll have to see what this government will actually do.'
CBC
16-05-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Carney travelling to Rome with Liberal MPs for Pope's inaugural mass
Prime Minister Mark Carney is scheduled to depart Canada Friday night for his first official trip to the Vatican where he will attend the inaugural mass for Pope Leo XIV on Sunday. Carney is a devout Catholic but was unable to attend Pope Francis's funeral on April 26 because it fell two days before the federal election. The inaugural mass, which serves as the swearing-in of sorts for a new pope, is drawing many international leaders and Carney is expected to have bilateral meetings with several of them during the trip. The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) confirmed members of Parliament from the Liberal caucus, who are practising Catholics or who represent large Catholic constituencies, will be travelling with the prime minister. U.S. Vice-President JD Vance, French Prime Minister François Bayrou and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese are among those who have confirmed they're attending. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is also hoping to attend. Assembly of First Nations National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak and Métis National Council President Victoria Pruden are travelling with the Canadian delegation. Pruden is calling on the Vatican's Anima Mundi Museum to return Métis cultural artifacts in its collection. "We are asking the Vatican to work with Métis knowledge-keepers, historians and experts to identify which items in their collection belong to our people and to return them," Pruden said in a media statement. "These artifacts were taken during eras of profound injustice. Their return is an essential step in advancing reconciliation and repairing the deep harms caused by colonial policies, including the role the Church played in the residential school system." Indigenous leaders previously called upon Pope Francis to return the artifacts. In 2023 he promised to do so but it has not yet happened. Leo, still new to the role, has not yet said whether he will honour that pledge. In an address to diplomats posted at the Vatican Friday morning, Leo reaffirmed the Church's efforts to "reach out to and embrace all individuals and all peoples on the Earth" through peace, justice and truth. "I believe that religions and interreligious dialogue can make a fundamental contribution to fostering a climate of peace. This naturally requires full respect for religious freedom in every country, since religious experience is an essential dimension of the human person," he said. "Without it, it is difficult, if not impossible, to bring about the purification of the heart necessary for building peaceful relationships."
