City of peace, division, or both? Met exhibit celebrates Jerusalem as house of mirrors
Four years ago, the co-curators of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s mind-bending new show, “Jerusalem 1000-1400: Every People Under Heaven,” visited Theophilos III, that city’s Orthodox patriarch, and solicited his community’s cooperation.
Book Review: Author pounds another crack in the foundation
This short book is boiled down from an interesting and at times incendiary interview of Cardinal Raymond Burke by French author Guillaume d’Alançon. Interesting in that it offers insight into the thoughts of a distinguished and highly influential Churchman. Incendiary in that it often seems d’Alançon is seeking to juxtapose the thought of Burke with that of Pope Francis in a way that may (and possibly seeks to) inflame divisions within the Church.
3 new September shows with religion subplots
Here’s your guide to three hot September shows that plumb religion and spirituality:
Modern-day hero cop, Catholic to boot
Move over Hercule Poirot and Adam Dalglish. John Delano has supplanted both as the most endearing sleuth of modern fiction.
Shrine tour opens eyes to Church role in early Canadian history
I realize it isn’t everybody’s ticket to dreamland. Indeed, I can think of many for whom it would constitute unmitigated boredom and misery. But if you’ve got some sort of semblance of faith or an interest in early Canadian history or an aesthetic love for religious architecture and art (or a galloping case of all three), then a pilgrimage to the Catholic shrines of Quebec can make for a wonderfully stimulating holiday.
Liturgical seasons as seen through a believer’s perspective
In a short volume consisting not of formal theology but rather of informal musings on faith in our Canadian society, Gerry Turcotte offers us an eminently readable collection of brief essays.
Documentary premiered at TIFF chronicles Pope's Cuban trip
TORONTO – A blockbuster lineup headlined the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) this year, but among the lesser known films drawing attention was one featuring Pope Francis, Fidel Castro and Barack Obama.
Author finds One World Trade Center a witness to America's spirit
MAMARONECK, N.Y. – Fifteen years after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks decimated the twin towers in lower Manhattan, the 1,776-foot One World Trade Center rises out of the ground, a palpable symbol of triumph and optimism. The tallest skyscraper in the Western Hemisphere is the soaring, storied, centerpiece of a 16-acre complex that includes eight other major structures.
Movie Review: ’Sully’
NEW YORK – Putting Tom Hanks in the cockpit as everybody's favorite aviator, U.S. Airways Capt. Chesley Sullenberger, and bringing Clint Eastwood on board to direct him certainly sounds like a formula for high-flying success. And so it proves with "Sully" (Warner Bros.), Eastwood's satisfying adaptation of Sullenberger's memoir (co-written with Jeffrey Zaslow) "Highest Duty: My Search for What Really Matters."
Vatican paper: exploring the final frontier, Star Trek offered peace
Accolades for “Star Trek” are filling the internet on the 50th anniversary of the television show’s premiere back on Sept. 8, 1966, and now the Pope’s newspaper has joined the chorus of hosannas for one of the most popular franchises in entertainment history.
It’s in the giving that Jean Vanier has received
A well-known line from the Peace Prayer of St. Francis wisely tells us “it is in giving that we receive.” This mantra encapsulates the incredible life of spiritual giant Jean Vanier, now 87, chronicled in Michael Higgins’ biography Jean Vanier: Logician of the Heart.