SHARON, ONT. - A group gathers under the full moon at Regina Mundi Renewal Centre on a Saturday evening in late August. They light up the night with candles. The flames illuminate faces that include a grandfather and granddaughters, teens and their parents, small families and large ones — people of all ages.
Villa St. Joseph stresses care for God’s creation
By Jean Ko Din, The Catholic RegisterEven before Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si’ was released to the world in June, Villa St. Joseph Retreat and Ecology Centre in Cobourg, Ont., was teaching others about the importance of caring for all of God’s creation.
Life’s too short: face up to aging
By THANDIWE KONGUAVI, Canadian Catholic NewsEDMONTON - Paulist Father Thomas Ryan was turning 50 when he decided he didn’t want just another birthday cake, a scoop of ice cream and “Happy Birthday” sung to him.
Pope at his witty best in praising family life
By David Gibson, Religion News ServicePHILADELPHIA - A re-energized Pope Francis delighted tens of thousands of people crowded onto a thoroughfare in the city center on Saturday, delivering a folksy, off-the-cuff riff on family life that came late in the evening, and at the end of a long day of speeches and festivities that by any measure should have left the 78-year-old pontiff drained.
Pope makes passionate plea for religious freedom
By Michael Swan, The Catholic RegisterPhiladelphia, Penn. - American composer Aaron Copland’s stirring “Fanfare for the Common Man” greeted a most uncommon pope, who proceeded to speak to America’s better angels on behalf of common men and women, who thronged Independence Mall in their thousands hoping to catch a glimpse of Pope Francis.
'Let freedom ring!' Respect for rights helps society, Pope says
By Cindy Wooden, Catholic News ServicePHILADELPHIA - Not far from where the Liberty Bell is on display, Pope Francis urged the people of the United States to continue to "proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof," as the bell's inscription says.
Casting the NET onto new public squares
By Jean Ko Din, The Catholic RegisterWhen the Apostles first set out to evangelize to the world, they stood in public squares to preach about the Kingdom of God and Jesus’ resurrection. But today, Brian Holdsworth said the new public squares are on the Internet and this is where the Church must be.
Ethiopians yearn for religious experience
By Michael Swan, The Catholic RegisterADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA - Ethiopia is not like the rest of Africa. Just ask an Ethiopian.
Africa takes its place in universal Church
By Michael Swan, The Catholic RegisterADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA - The Catholic Church is more African than most Canadians realize. We pay no attention to the early African popes — Gelasius I (492 to 496), Miltiades (311 to 314) and Victor I (189 to 199). We gloss over the African origins of some of the most significant writers and thinkers of early Christianity, including the evangelist Mark, author of the oldest Gospel in the canon, and theologians Tertullian, Origen and St. Augustine of Hippo.
Pope challenges religious to create ministries that inspire young people
By Dennis Sadowski, Catholic News ServicePHILADELPHIA - Pope Francis encouraged Pennsylvania's Catholic clergy and women and men religious to challenge young people to develop "high ideals, generosity of spirit and love for Christ and the church."
