{mosimage}TORONTO - The day peace-building became a professional goal for Dr. Sara Schleien, she was watching a soccer game at a leadership camp for teens from countries engulfed in conflict.
It took a minute for the reality of the moment to sink in, she said — a boy from Egypt had scored a winning goal and his teammates, from Israel, Gaza, Egypt, Afghanistan and India ran up to him, picked him up and twirled him around.
It took a minute for the reality of the moment to sink in, she said — a boy from Egypt had scored a winning goal and his teammates, from Israel, Gaza, Egypt, Afghanistan and India ran up to him, picked him up and twirled him around.
Ordinary life makes us holy
By Michael Swan, The Catholic Register
{mosimage}TORONTO - Ordinary holiness is the gift of Opus Dei to the church, Archbishop Thomas Collins told an overflowing assembly at Our Lady of Sorrows on the feast of Opus Dei founder St. Josemaria Escriva.
"It is in that sublime simplicity of ordinary life, in the business of our world, that we are called to holiness," said Collins in his June 26 homily at the west end Toronto parish.
"It is in that sublime simplicity of ordinary life, in the business of our world, that we are called to holiness," said Collins in his June 26 homily at the west end Toronto parish.
Bishop Grecco to lead Charlottetown diocese
By Catholic Register Staff
{mosimage}TORONTO - Pope Benedict XVI has appointed Toronto Auxiliary Bishop Richard Grecco bishop of Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island.
At the same time the Pope accepted the resignation of Bishop Vernon Fougere, Charlottetown’s bishop since 1992, for reasons of health.
“I am humbled by the announcement of the Holy Father and look forward with great joy to serving the people of the diocese of Charlottetown," said Grecco of the July 11 announcement. "I send my thoughts and prayers to all those on Prince Edward Island and look forward to joining their community shortly.”
At the same time the Pope accepted the resignation of Bishop Vernon Fougere, Charlottetown’s bishop since 1992, for reasons of health.
“I am humbled by the announcement of the Holy Father and look forward with great joy to serving the people of the diocese of Charlottetown," said Grecco of the July 11 announcement. "I send my thoughts and prayers to all those on Prince Edward Island and look forward to joining their community shortly.”
Stephen Harper communion controversy upstages G8 coverage
By Deborah Gyapong, Canadian Catholic News
{mosimage}ROME - Did Prime Minister Stephen Harper consume communion at the Catholic funeral of former Governor General Romeo LeBlanc on July 3? Or did he put it in his pocket as anonymous YouTube film of the funeral alleges?
Those were the questions that consumed journalists who followed Harper to the 2009 G-8 Summit in L’Aquila while colleagues at home tracked down the story.
Those were the questions that consumed journalists who followed Harper to the 2009 G-8 Summit in L’Aquila while colleagues at home tracked down the story.
Canadians praise Pope's social encyclical
By Michael Swan, The Catholic Register
{mosimage}It's almost as if Pope Benedict XVI had Canada and its controversies in mind as he penned the first social encyclical of the 21st century.
By updating Pope Paul VI's encyclical Populorum Progressio, and making an explicit link between church teaching on economic development and Pope Paul's teaching on human sexuality, abortion and contraception — Humanae Vitae — it was as though Benedict had the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace in mind, said Michael Casey.
"It will certainly inform our discussions on policies and on our orientation. It will be stuff to work on over the next few months," said Casey, executive director of Development and Peace.
By updating Pope Paul VI's encyclical Populorum Progressio, and making an explicit link between church teaching on economic development and Pope Paul's teaching on human sexuality, abortion and contraception — Humanae Vitae — it was as though Benedict had the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace in mind, said Michael Casey.
"It will certainly inform our discussions on policies and on our orientation. It will be stuff to work on over the next few months," said Casey, executive director of Development and Peace.
Canadians among new archbishops receiving pallium
By Carol Glatz, Catholic News Service
{mosimage}VATICAN CITY - Receiving the woolen pallium from the Pope underlines an archbishop's unique ties to the vicar of Christ in Rome and to his own flock of parishioners back home, said a number of archbishops from Canada and the United States and Canada.
Archbishops J. Michael Miller of Vancouver and Pierre-Andre Fournier of Rimouski, Que., were among the 34 bishops from 20 countries who received the white, narrow circular band called a pallium during a special Mass in St. Peter's Basilica June 29.
Archbishops J. Michael Miller of Vancouver and Pierre-Andre Fournier of Rimouski, Que., were among the 34 bishops from 20 countries who received the white, narrow circular band called a pallium during a special Mass in St. Peter's Basilica June 29.
LifeSite at odds with Canadian bishops' Development and Peace report
By Michael Swan, The Catholic RegisterAllegations against the Canadian bishops' development agency are a "counter-witness to that Gospel spirit that should guide all Christians," say Bishops Martin Currie and Francois Lapierre.
Currie and Lapierre's inquiry into LifeSiteNews.com stories that accused the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace of giving money to groups which advocate for legal abortion in Mexico clears the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace of involvement in pushing for legal abortion in Mexico. Having consulted with Mexico's bishops and interviewed five Development and Peace partners whom LifeSiteNews.com said were promoting legal access to abortion, the bishops "did not find any evidence that they have been implicated in promoting abortion," said the report released publicly June 29 (see http://tinyurl.com/mcrpk4 ).
Etobicoke parish 'revolutionized' Bishop Lacey's priesthood
By Sheila Dabu Nonato, The Catholic Register
{mosimage}TORONTO - Toronto Auxiliary Bishop emeritus Pearse Lacey remembers the first time parishioners at Etobicoke’s Transfiguration of Our Lord got a taste of Vatican II.
Responding to the Council’s 1963 Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Lacey introduced what was then considered a novel idea: highlighting the laity’s role in the Eucharist.
So Lacey tried something new. He placed a ciborium at the church’s entrance and asked people to put a host in it as they walked in.
Responding to the Council’s 1963 Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Lacey introduced what was then considered a novel idea: highlighting the laity’s role in the Eucharist.
So Lacey tried something new. He placed a ciborium at the church’s entrance and asked people to put a host in it as they walked in.
Catholic Church part of Canada's 'founding myth'
By Michael Swan, The Catholic Register
{mosimage}Canada Day celebrations will almost certainly praise this country as a tolerant, peaceable nation with a highly developed, secular and multicultural, democratic culture.
That wasn’t what St. Jean de Brebeuf had in mind when he established the first European settlement in Upper Canada in 1639. The mystic Jesuit priest and missionary had a vision of a Christian kingdom in the heart of North America — a theocracy, really — where European and Huron cultures would be mutually transformed by faith in Jesus Christ.
Brebeuf’s vision lasted just 10 years, and the Jesuits ended up burning down their tiny experiment at Sainte-Marie Among the Hurons near present-day Midland, Ont., in 1649 to prevent the village falling into the hands of the Iroquois (proxies for the Dutch, whose commercial interests in the fur trade opposed those of France).
That wasn’t what St. Jean de Brebeuf had in mind when he established the first European settlement in Upper Canada in 1639. The mystic Jesuit priest and missionary had a vision of a Christian kingdom in the heart of North America — a theocracy, really — where European and Huron cultures would be mutually transformed by faith in Jesus Christ.
Brebeuf’s vision lasted just 10 years, and the Jesuits ended up burning down their tiny experiment at Sainte-Marie Among the Hurons near present-day Midland, Ont., in 1649 to prevent the village falling into the hands of the Iroquois (proxies for the Dutch, whose commercial interests in the fur trade opposed those of France).
Canadian Bishops clear Development and Peace of any wrongdoing
By Michael Swan, The Catholic Register
{mosimage}The Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace’s Mexican partners were “imprudent” when they signed a civil society submission to the United Nations on human rights, but Canada’s bishops have found no evidence of wrongdoing on the part of Development and Peace or its partners, Archbishop James Weisgerber has declared.
The report into allegations made by LifeSiteNews.com that Development and Peace funded Mexican groups lobbying in favour of legal abortion will include recommendations for tighter protocols on future partnerships, but those recommendations won’t be revealed until all the bishops have had a chance to read the report, said the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops’ president.
The report into allegations made by LifeSiteNews.com that Development and Peace funded Mexican groups lobbying in favour of legal abortion will include recommendations for tighter protocols on future partnerships, but those recommendations won’t be revealed until all the bishops have had a chance to read the report, said the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops’ president.
Dead Sea Scrolls validate Bible
By Carolyn Girard, The Catholic Register
{mosimage} TORONTO - Who ever thought the Bible could be improved? Well, as Hebrew Scriptures Professor Eugene Ulrich told a packed audience June 23, it has been. And it took the unearthing of the now famous Dead Sea Scrolls, on display at the Royal Ontario Museum until Jan. 3, to do so.
“The Dead Sea Scrolls demonstrate that the text of the Bible was remarkably faithfully transmitted over the past 2,000 years. So we all can breathe a big sigh of relief,” Ulrich said during his lecture, The Impact of the Dead Sea Scrolls on the Bible, one of fourteen presentations in a special lecture series about the scrolls that will feature a variety of scholars until Dec. 15.
“The Dead Sea Scrolls demonstrate that the text of the Bible was remarkably faithfully transmitted over the past 2,000 years. So we all can breathe a big sigh of relief,” Ulrich said during his lecture, The Impact of the Dead Sea Scrolls on the Bible, one of fourteen presentations in a special lecture series about the scrolls that will feature a variety of scholars until Dec. 15.