Catholic bishops attempting to clarify the Pope’s refusal to apologize for the horrors of residential schools threw a holy smoke bomb to the floor during a news conference and vanished before stunned reporters on Wednesday evening.
The incident occurred at the National Press Theatre, following a failed bid in the House of Commons by the NDP to force the Pope into apologizing.
“I asked the bishops what they would say to Senator Murray Sinclair about the refusal when the Archbishop of Winnipeg shouted in Latin and threw something on the floor,” said Lannette Francis, reporter with APTN National News, who described the room suddenly filling with a white smoke.
“When the air finally cleared, the bishops were gone.”
The holy disappearance caused confusion and outrage on Parliament Hill, with the exception of Conservative leader Andrew Scheer.
“I guess that’s that,” Scheer told reporters. “Separation of church and state — now let’s never speak of this again.”
The bishops later sent an email to reporters simultaneously claiming that there’s no such thing as a Catholic Church and to leave the Pope alone.