Michael Swan, The Catholic Register

Michael Swan, The Catholic Register

Michael is Associate Editor of The Catholic Register.

He is an award-winning writer and photographer and holds a Master of Arts degree from New York University.

Follow him on Twitter @MmmSwan, or click here to email him.

TORONTO - When Saskatoon Bishop Don Bolen suggested St. Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians, chapter one, verse 13 as the starting point for this year’s Week of Prayer for Christian Unity not everybody on the Canadian writing team jumped on board.

KLEINBURG, ONT. - Fr. Gregory Ace has crèches from more countries than he doesn’t. His collection of 1,300 (or so) Nativity scenes includes examples from 120 countries. He’s got about 80 more to go.

The permanent diaconate is moving west. Two of the four dioceses in Saskatchewan will begin training men to become permanent deacons in 2014 and the other two are mulling it over.

One of Canada’s oldest Catholic universities is claiming it has gained a new lease on life by selling its buildings.

Updated - 12/20/13

Less than 20 per cent of Canadian dioceses are using their web sites to consult the laity in advance of next year’s extraordinary synod on the family.

TORONTO - It may sound strange to Catholics who look at Quebec’s Charter of Values and shake their heads over secularism run amok, but in 2010 the world’s Catholic bishops and Pope Benedict XVI came to the conclusion the only hope for beleaguered Christians in the Middle East is secularism — secularism combined with democracy.

December 15, 2013

The Good Shepherd at 50

TORONTO - For 50 years The Good Shepherd Centre has fed the hungry, clothed the naked, sheltered the homeless, cared for the sick and taken no credit for the lives it has saved.

TORONTO - Getting referred to Dr. Irene Ying can be scary for patients. Ying calls herself a palliative care consultant.

At the Catholic Women’s League there’s plenty of excitement about what Pope Francis has been saying about women.

Canada is rejecting a Vatican call for the United Nations to take a closer look at the ethics and legality of drone warfare, The Catholic Register has learned.