Fifty-eight years ago, the Second Vatican Council gave birth to the Decree on Ecumenism, in November 1965. Most have forgotten that the decree was passed by a vote of 2,137 to 11 of the bishops assembled at the Council.
At least give Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and her government credit for chutzpah. During a summer when Canadian forests were burning at an unprecedented rate and tens of thousands of people were evacuated from their homes, the government imposed a seven-month moratorium on the approval of new projects using renewable energy to produce electricity.
Have you ever visited Toronto’s unique and beautiful outdoor Marian Shrine of Gratitude? If you haven’t, you’ve missed a real treasure — and if you have, you know what a jewel it truly is. Either way, the Shrine needs you to help save it!
Remarks of Pope Francis concluding the Mass at Steppe Arena, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia on Sept. 3.
In “Canada Needs 12 steps back from affirmative action,” Catholic Register guest columnist Brian Giesbrecht bluntly assigns the unmeasurable economic wealth gleaned by 500 years of slavery to a supposed Western cultural genius for meritocracy, a term only coined in recent years. Giesbrecht deftly omits mention of the recent New York Times publication “1619” on the history of American slavery. He also tries to make history disappear by omitting mention of Columbus’ 1492 introduction of Indigenous killings.
Among the many compelling truths found in this issue’s special section on healing and recovery is the reality that so-called process addictions can be as real and destructive as habitual substance abuse.
It has been just over seven years since Canadian law has permitted euthanasia and assisted suicide on demand. In those seven years restriction after restriction on euthanasia provision has fallen and now we stand on the threshold of euthanizing the mentally ill and permitting the as-yet-undefined “mature minor” to end his or her life. Euthanasia is now presented to patients as a health care option.
For individuals of a certain age, the cataclysmic impact of AI has been an existential threat for more than half a century. Many of us grew up with the haunting voice of the predatory artificial intelligence, HAL, from Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, resonating ominously, and dispassionately, in our ears.
People jumping into a lake to escape being consumed by flames. Roadways jammed with vehicles on the move. Kilometre-long line-ups to airstrips offering evacuation flights.
We are last to push off from the shore into Oxbow Lake. I am in a canoe with Steph and Ava, two high school students from the Toronto Catholic District School Board. Ahead of us are 30 other TCDSB students ranging from Grades 10-12. For many of them it is their first time paddling a canoe. We are bringing up the rear to ensure no one goes astray. Leading the pack at the front is Greg Rogers, founder of this week-long Catholic Leadership program at Camp Olympia near Huntsville, Ont. He is taking us all to see Jesus.
Mackenzie-Fort Smith Bishop Jon Hansen was among the thousands of evacuees forced to flee the Northwest Territories due to the wildfires. The bishop has been keeping in touch with his flock online.