Francis, Pope of the People

Pope Francis spoke up for the oppressed and poor

This morning I woke up to the news that Pope Francis had passed at the age of 88. We had just saw him less than 12 hours earlier in news footage in his Popemobile blessing a baby. But when he addressed the crowd at St Peter's Basilica to say "Dear brothers and sisters, Happy Easter", his voice was very weak...

He was discharged last month after 38 days in hospital battling pneumonia in both lungs. Doctors didn't think he would make it -- twice. They advised him to isolate himself and get rest for at least two months to avoid infection, but Francis wanted to be with the people, one last time.

And he will be forever remembered as a pope with humility who advocated for the oppressed, the poor, migrants, refugees, and the environment.

He made a landmark trip to Canada in 2022

Francis criticised the Trump administration's mass deportation policy. In a letter to American bishops, he wrote: "What is built on the basis of force, and not on the truth about the equal dignity of every human being, begins badly and will end badly."

In 2022 he came to Canada to right a wrong, apologising to the Indigenous people for how they were treated in residential schools. 

From the 1870s to the 1990s, some 150,000 First Nations, Metis, and Inuit children were taken away from their families and forced to attend church-run schools to get them to forget their language and culture. 

Many of the children were abused and neglected, thousands died of malnutrition, suicide and disease.

Pope Francis listened to the survivors and apologised, making him the first pope to do so, and asked for forgiveness.

Several times he has also called for a cease fire in Gaza, condemned the "deplorable humanitarian situation," and expressed his "closeness to the sufferings of Christians in Palestine and Israel and to all the Israeli people and the Palestinian people."

He called Gaza nightly to check on people there

Every night at around 8pm Francis would call Father Gabriel Romanelli to check on how the faithful were doing in the last standing Catholic church in Gaza. The pontiff would ask Romanelli how the residents were doing in the midst of war, if they had enough food and what they had eaten that day.

"It was a singular expression of his love, his concern. A real concern for the good of all and a sign of the good shepherd," Romanelli said. "People feel abandoned, but the call of the Pope gave a very hard sign of hope."

When the bombings were bad, Francis would call three or four times that day.

Giving people hope is what religion does, and Francis embued this as the leader of the Catholic church who was on the ground with the people.

Following his funeral this weekend, bishops will be gathering to decide on the next pope. There are hopes he will also be liberal and continue where Francis left off. Someone like him is needed more than ever in a world that has become more authoritarian.

June 12 Rally Marred by Indigenous Protest

Hong Kong protesters showed up with flags and in black

In Hong Kong it's already June 12, the fourth anniversary of the peaceful protests against the extradition bill that successfully stalled the second reading of the bill at the Legislative Council, but the police fired rubber bullets and tear gas at the 40,000 people.

The police described the incident as a riot, which led to the protesters to chant, "Five demands, not one less". They were: Demand the police retract the "riot" characterisation; withdrawal of the extradition bill; release and exonerate arrested protesters; hold a public inquiry into police brutality; and implement universal suffrage.

Four years on the Hong Kong diaspora continue to call for these demands to be met, on Sunday afternoon in Vancouver at an event organised by the Vancouver Activists of Hong Kong.

"Glory to Hong Kong" written in chalk

A crowd of about 50-60 people gathered at the steps of the Vancouver Art Gallery, many wearing black, masks, hats and sunglasses. Several people waved flags of colonial Hong Kong, of East Turkestan, and the protest slogan "Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times".

The 2pm event began several minutes late due to technical problems, but finally got off the ground, with the singing of the Canadian anthem and a minute of silence for the victims of the 2019 protests. The protest anthem "Glory to Hong Kong" -- a song the authorities are trying to ban -- was played, while many in the crowd shouted slogans.

Then a few people made speeches, such as a member of parliament, a long time activist who organises events around June 4, and some protesters, one of whom became very emotional, pleading for passersby to pay attention to what the Hongkongers' grievances were about.

An artistic statement

However, the area is a public space where people are free to walk through, and when parts of the event are in Cantonese, there is even less interest. Many walking by carried shopping bags, as the art gallery is near a shopping street, others walked their dogs.

Just as the emcee was about to introduce radio host Edmund Wan, known as Giggs, who has now made his home in Vancouver, a First Nations woman who stood near the front began shouting that this land was theirs and how dare we, the attendees take it away from them.

She insisted on disrupting the event, and Wan tried to tell her that he had met some indigenous people recently and respected them, but the woman refused to listen. She was with two other First Nations woman, one of whom also began shouting, the other more interested in munching on her bag of chips.

A friend remarked perhaps this was the "infiltration" the protesters were worried about...

After a few minutes the emcee said she was angry that their items were taken away. Perhaps she was referring to the impromptu display of 215 pairs of shoes on the steps of the art gallery to represent the graves of 215 children that were discovered at a residential school in northern British Columbia. Toys were later added to the makeshift memorial.

It stood there from May 2021 until last month, when the city said it would remove the items, but then most of them disappeared before the city's cleaning crew arrived. No one knows where they are.

Woman in green disrupted the rally, pal eats chips

Why the woman was disrupting the Hong Kong protest was annoying since this clean-up happened almost a month ago and her complaints should be directed at City Hall.

Later the emcee explained in Cantonese again that she had had too much to drink, and that everyone should move away from her and ignore her. But she caught wind of what was going on and began shouting again.

Apparently the police were called, but no one came right away.

It was disappointing to see the event -- a peaceful one at that! -- being hijacked. The woman disrupting the rally distracted the attendees and the significance of the gathering.

Another is scheduled tomorrow evening (June 12 Vancouver time) at Metrotown Skytrain Station in Burnaby. It is possible there will be a greater turnout there...