Catholic Register Staff

Catholic Register Staff

TORONTO - Archbishop Savio Hon Tai-Fai, the Vatican’s Secretary of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, will be the keynote speaker at a Jubilee Year of Mercy conference in Toronto on New Year’s weekend.

TORONTO - Fr. Hector Vila, rector of Toronto’s Redemptoris Mater Missionary Seminary, has been appointed the new bishop of Whitehorse.
Pope Francis announced the appointment on Nov. 27.

Thursday, November 26, 2015 - Nairobi
10 a.m. Mass on the campus of the University of Nairobi.

Homily of His Holiness Pope Francis
Nairobi, Central Park
Thursday, November 26, 2015

God’s word speaks to us in the depths of our heart.  Today God tells us that we belong to him.  He made us, we are his family, and he will always be there for us.  “Fear not”, he says to us, “I have chosen you and I promise to give you my blessing” (cf. Is 44:2).

OTTAWA - Bishop Jean-Louis Plouffe is stepping down after more than a quarter century helming the Diocese of Sault Ste. Marie in northern Ontario, the Canadian bishops’ conference announced Nov. 12.

Editor’s note: Launched almost 30 years ago as a project at Toronto’s St. Michael’s College School, the Out of the Cold program is a remarkable story of Christian outreach that last winter provided food and shelter to more than 12,000 homeless men and women. That success is celebrated in a just-released book by Catholic Register associate editor Michael Swan. In this excerpt from Out of the Cold: A history of caring, Swan recounts how the program found a home in one downtown Toronto church.

An estate gift to your parish or favourite archdiocesan charity can be a way to say thank you to God for all the blessings He has given you. Some of the most common gifts are as follows.

“Patriotism is not dying for one’s country, it is living for one’s country — and for humanity. Perhaps that is not as romantic, but it’s better.”

TORONTO - With doctors about to become "agents of death" when assisted suicide comes to Canada in three months, politicians and society should instead be focussed on bringing comfort to the dying, said Cardinal Thomas Collins.

Out Of The ColdOut of the Cold: A history of caring
By Michael Swan

From a modest storefront that opened 28 years ago to serve hot meals to a handful of homeless people, Out of the Cold has developed into an acclaimed winter program that last year provided food and overnight shelter to more than 12,000 homeless people.

Catholic Register associate editor Michael Swan tells the remarkable story of how Out of the Cold evolved from modest beginnings as a weekend project at a Toronto Catholic high school into an extraordinary example of Christian love and caring. It’s a story of ordinary people doing extraordinary things.

Canadian orders: 126 pages / Paperback / 5.5"x8.5" / $14.99 + $3.00 shipping / ISBN 978-0-9948716-0-2 / © 2015 Catholic Register Books

US orders: 126 pages / Paperback / 5.5"x8.5" / $14.99 + $5.00 shipping / ISBN 978-0-9948716-0-2 / © 2015 Catholic Register Books

International orders: 126 pages / Paperback / 5.5"x8.5" / $14.99 + $10.00 shipping / ISBN 978-0-9948716-0-2 / © 2015 Catholic Register Books

Editor’s note: this is an edited version of a blog entry Oriana Bertucci, director of Ryerson Catholic Campus Ministry, shared about what campus ministries offer to students in the Archdiocese of Toronto. It originally appeared at archtoronto.org.

University campuses represent the fertile landscape of our society, nurturing culture and giving root to our future world leaders. This is where research and technology develop and emergent ideas flourish. And today, it’s a place in desperate need of the life-giving water of the Gospel message.