Features

Another Toronto Catholic school is now slated to become an arts, media and technological school through new programming to begin in fall of 2011.

St. Patrick Catholic Secondary School in Toronto’s east end was selected for a Grades 9-12 arts, media and technologies centre after a review of five city schools including Cardinal Newman, Jean Vanier, Neil McNeil, Notre Dame and St. Patrick’s.

TORONTO - When he was in Grade 8, John Kostoff had a choice to make: attend a prestigious high school with a longstanding tradition in academics and sports or an up-and-coming, smaller Toronto school run by the Holy Ghost Fathers.

Kostoff had seen a newspaper photo of a child from Nigeria holding a sign reading “Thank you, Neil McNeil.” That sealed the deal for Kostoff, who chose Neil McNeil High School because of the school’s active involvement in helping survivors of the 1967-70 Nigerian Civil War.

AJAX, Ont. - There was nothing special about Jenny Lawlor’s prom night. It’s Lawlor who is special.

Lawlor has Down syndrome and is one of about 25 special needs students at Archbishop Denis O’Connor High School in Ajax. Every year a few of the special needs kids attend the prom along with the graduating students.

The special needs students are no less a part of 900-strong student body than any one else, said principal Mary Curran. That’s simple and obvious.

A Quebec parents’ group is hailing a court ruling that allows a private Montreal Catholic high school to be exempt from a provincially mandated ethics course as a victory for freedom of religion and parental rights.

On June 21, Quebec’s Superior Court slammed the “totalitarian” approach of the Quebec government and ruled that Loyola High School can not be forced to teach the controversial Ethics and Religious Culture course because it infringes upon their charter rights of free expression and religion.

TORONTO - Couples planning to marry shouldn’t look at marriage preparation courses as a place to “grease their wheels” but rather a time to discern if they’re actually ready, experts say.

Clint Tyler, director of the marriage preparation and family life office at the archdiocese of Toronto, said its multi-week course is much more than a “happy weekend where couples can feel good,” but a real chance to discuss important issues that many couples don’t address on their own.

“It’s about having them explore if they are ready to commit to a Catholic vision of marriage,” Tyler said. “It’s our job to present that vision of Catholic marriage.”

About 20 per cent of couples who take the archdiocesan marriage prep course decide not to go ahead with a wedding, Tyler said, adding it’s better that they realize ahead of time if they have the same vision for their marriage and understand that it’s not just a commitment but a covenant.

On an evangelical television program some time ago, a married couple who had remarried after being divorced for five years shared their story. While I really enjoyed it, one thing the woman said really bugged me.

Their marriage had failed because she had an affair (or two), didn’t show any remorse and was caught repeatedly lying. When she was asked about her faith journey she said: “I was raised a Catholic, and as Catholics we are not taught that Jesus Christ wants to have a personal relationship with us. It wasn’t until I started having a personal relationship with Jesus (as taught to her by evangelicals) that I started to realize that Jesus cared about me and what I did and thought personally.”

My initial response to that comment was anger, then a question popped into my head. The woman was blaming the Catholic Church for not teaching her to have a personal relationship with Jesus, but why was she not sharing the blame with her parents? Whose duty is it to teach our children the importance of having a  relationship with Jesus? More than one pope has said parents are the primary educators of children and have a responsibility to pass down the precepts of the faith.

Tiger Woods has been in the public eye recently for all the wrong reasons, and his marital predicament has spurred many joking comments. I suspect the  jocularity masks (as humour often does) a deep concern society has for marital fidelity and, indeed, the overall health and well-being of marriage.

Almost all of society — Christians and non-Christians, young and old, traditionalists and non-traditionalists — really are disappointed when infidelity becomes front-page news. Despite all the cultural changes of this era we still hold marriage in high esteem and believe it is worthy of every sacrifice.

In an unexpected way, society’s high regard for marriage is even evident in the campaign for same-sex marriage. Isn’t it odd that gays and lesbians have fought long and hard to gain access to a social institution that some have denounced as outmoded and anachronistic? Even many who until recently had never expected to don the “shackles” of marriage are now clamouring to be allowed to do so. While Catholics continue to believe (for sound theological reasons) that same-sex marriage is a contradiction in terms, the fact that marriage has become a life goal for many who historically have been excluded from it is more testimony to its abiding appeal.

University of Ottawa law professor Errol Mendes has been accused of playing partisan politics, siding with the Taliban against Canadian soldiers and aiding terrorists. He gets vicious hate mail, and at first thought it might not be a good idea to have his picture taken.

The reason? A constitutional law expert, Mendes has argued that Parliament has a right and a duty to examine uncensored documents that might reveal whether Afghans captured by Canadian troops were later tortured in Afghan prisons.

On the technical side of the law, he is arguing for the supremacy of Parliament. In his conscience, he’s arguing for Christ.

TORONTO - Not many 11 year olds are encouraged to dangle from a rope down the side of their school. But being a member of the De La Salle College Cadets means Aidan McCarthy is not your average school kid.

He is one of 12 students — 11 boys and one girl — who are part of the De La Salle (Oaklands) Cadet Corps program. Now in its 100th year, the program is one of the few remaining — if not the only — Catholic cadet corps in Canada. It is part of a century-old tradition of training leaders at the private Catholic school for Grade 5-to-12 students run by the De La Salle Brothers.