A test to be Catholic?

Mao Qin Wang fled to Canada from his native China for fear of religious persecution for his Roman Catholic faith.

Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Board said “Oh yeah? Well who was Jesus’ grandmother? Huh?”

The 26-year-old insists he is a devout Roman Catholic, but in January he failed a test that required proof through precise knowledge, such as the name of Jesus’ grandmother.

The National Post reported that, among other botched responses, the man knew Mary was the mother of Jesus but did not know Anne was his grandmother’s name. He also fell short when explaining some nuances of the faith.

“The claimant was asked whether the consecrated wafer or the bread represents the body of Jesus or whether it is the body of Jesus,” stated the IRB decision by adjudicator Rose Andrachuck, quoted by the National Post.

“The claimant responded that it represented the body of Jesus, which is incorrect.”

Now I understand fully that Canada must have some way of identifying people who falsely claim persecution for immigration purposes, but this ain’t it. If they asked these same questions to a majority of Canadian Catholics, or Americans for that matter, hosts of them would be deported on the spot.

Now before you get all crazy thinking this might be a good idea to weed out nominal or cafeteria Catholics, remember that… ummm… that…

Gimme a minute. I am sure its a bad idea, I just can’t think of why for the moment.

Just kidding.

If Mao Qin Wang isn’t faking, all this test shows is that Catholic education in China is just as bad as it is here. If he is faking his Catholicism, welcome to the club buddy. You’ll fit right in.