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.
September 22, 2011 at 2:12 am
Canada is NOT a country I would advise anyone fleeing persecution for his Catholic faith to go to! I think Canada is proudly going down the path of totalitarian outlawing of faith, and must be one of the worst amongst Western democracies. Lynda
September 22, 2011 at 2:29 am
Well the answer to the first question is that we don't know for sure. Historically the only source we have for Mary's parents name is from the apocryphal Gospel of James. So it is certainly a small t tradition that we have the names.
September 22, 2011 at 3:29 am
True Jeff, but Anne is the patron saint of Canada.
September 22, 2011 at 3:32 am
Obviously in Canada, the shrine of St. Anne de Beaupre makes it a more high-profile question. But geez, people. It's not dogma.
What if the guy had answered, and "St. Anne" in Chinese had turned out to be something not easily recognizable? Did anybody ask the translator if he even knew what terms were used in China for her? And what if there are different ones used regionally, or according to whether you're dealing with Mandarin, Cantonese, etc.? What about literal translation of the Hebrew, for goodness' sake? So if you got a "correct" answer, how would you know you'd gotten it?
And I wouldn't even want to wade into theology.
Sigh. Next thing you know, you can't have religious freedom unless you can stand on one foot, hop up and down, and whistle a cantata. Backwards.
September 22, 2011 at 6:38 am
Wow.. you pretty much said what I am thinking… his failing this test makes me think he has been studying the faith of north america for the past 40 years or….
Maybe I should stop before I fall into some sin, more than I already have.
September 22, 2011 at 1:47 pm
Lots of Muslims in Canada. Perhaps, they were the ones giving the tests.
September 22, 2011 at 2:22 pm
China has been persecuting Catholics so long that it's not a surprise that he is under-catechized. Remember that the Church is underground there.
September 22, 2011 at 3:46 pm
Actually being a saint is an infallible statement by the Church. That said, this guy, as previously stated, sounds like he went to a North American Catholic School. A true test would have been if he could make a cardboard poster of Jesus including magazine cut outs and glitter.
September 22, 2011 at 3:53 pm
St. Charles Lwanga and his companions were martyred almost on the very day of their baptisms. I'm sure there were a few nubbins of the faith that they didn't know. But we are judged in Love, not Theology. Thank God. The reason that this is a bad idea is: Persecution of Catholics and other Christians in China is a) well known and beyond proof, and b) so pervasive that you can suppose that nearly every refugee is fleeing red China for that reason, among others. So, what's with the quiz?
September 22, 2011 at 7:12 pm
Questions aside, who does he think will protect his fledgling Catholicism in Canada? The Human Rights Tribunal? That's his first fail right there.
September 22, 2011 at 8:23 pm
"Dolan! Dolan!
Way to get resistance rollin'!
May we need no longer search
For separation of State and Church!"
September 22, 2011 at 9:11 pm
Suburbanbanshee stole my point! I recently spent a few hours trying to figure out what, exactly, Jesus actually called Saint Peter. I'm still not sure! (I think it was something like Key-fah, with the "fah" sounding like "fast"… not sure, though.)
Heck, if I didn't attend Saint Anne's, I might not know she's Jesus' grandma! (Very cool, since the statue is her with yellow roses, and that's my daughters' grandmother's favorite flower.)