Whenever I see Dennis Drainville mentioned I am overcome by an overwhelming desire to make an unkind play on words using his name and the direction his diocese (Quebec) is heading; so far my will of iron has helped me resist the urge.

It seems that the bishop has been a “lifelong social activist”, a phrase almost completely devoid of any meaning other than as a label for people who like wandering around carrying placards containing phrases equally devoid of meaning. Like this:

Speaking of phrases devoid of meaning, Bishop Dennis Drainville has decided that the Occupy movement has provided the cosmic illumination that: ‘They are the 1 per cent and we are the 99 per cent.’ It doesn’t get much deeper than that. The bishop himself, by virtue of being in the upper echelons of an elitist church hierarchy and earning a typical bishop’s salary of over $100,000 per year, is probably in the 0.001 per cent.

As the bishop notes, “the gulf between the rich and poor is widening”; it’s almost as wide as the chasm between Anglican bishops and normal people.

From here:

The Occupy movement has created a focused public debate on economic and political institutions and provided “a new and powerful critique” of them, says Bishop Dennis Drainville of the diocese of Quebec.

Invited to speak at various events Sept. 28-30 sponsored by Occupy Nova Scotia and churches in Halifax, Drainville noted that the anti-capitalist movement that spread around the world in 2011 has brought new awareness to the notion that ‘They are the 1 per cent and we are the 99 per cent,’ ” Drainville told those attending his lecture at the Atlantic School of Theology. “This formula underlines the structural inequalities of our political and economic system and highlights the collusion between the corporate and political elites,” he said.