2011 - Year in Review

By Catholic Register Staff

December 29, 2011

The latest edition of The Catholic Register looks back on the year that was with a special centre-spread. You can view a high-res PDF of this specially designed collage by clicking here or on the preview image below.

And don't forget, every front cover of the paper from 2011 is now archived on facebook. You can view a slideshow of all these covers, irregardless of whether you have an account or not, by clicking here.

~ Review the top stories of the year by clicking on the links after any of the story summaries below ~

January

Canadian civil engineer Yves Lacourciere is tasked with rebuilding the infrastructure of the Catholic Church in Haiti following the 2010 earthquake that devastated the nation. READ MORE >>>

Toronto Archbishop Thomas Collins begins his apostolic visitation to Ireland. Collins and Ottawa Archbishop Terrence Prendergast were among four bishops assigned by the Vatican to report on the Irish clergy abuse scandal. READ MORE >>>

Governor Salman Taseer, governor of Pakistan’s Punjabi province, is assassinated by his bodyguard for expressing sympathy for a Christian woman facing death on blasphemy charges. READ MORE >>>

February

Bishop Gerald Lacroix is named new archbishop of Quebec City, Canada’s oldest diocese, taking over from Cardinal Marc Ouellet. READ MORE >>>

Pakistan Minorities Minister Shahbaz Bhatti, on a trip to Canada, says he is living with a death sentence for speaking out against his country’s blasphemy law. Mere weeks later, he is assassinated in Islamabad. READ MORE >>>

Catholics protest a deliberately provocative art exhibit by Peter Alexander Por at a Toronto art gallery that features a bullet-ridden Pope Benedict XVI. READ MORE >>>

March

Toronto’s Bishop Peter Hundt is named new bishop for Corner Brook and Labrador, Nfld.

Archbishop Yousif Mansoor is named archbishop of Baghdad after spending the previous 14 years in Canada.

Death and destruction hit Japan as a major earthquake sets off a tsunami that kills upwards of 15,000 people. READ MORE >>>

More than 100 ex-Anglicans gather in Mississauga, Ont., for a conference to get a feel for what could be their new spiritual home, the Roman Catholic Church. READ MORE >>>

April

Ottawa’s Archbishop Prendergast pulls the plug on a visit to his archdiocese by Fr. Luis Arriaga, head of a Mexican centre embroiled in controversy alleging his organization promotes decriminalizing abortion. READ MORE >>>

Pope Benedict XVI offers Easter prayers for peace in the world’s ongoing trouble spots, including the Middle East, where the “Arab Spring” is in full swing.

Pro-life hero Fr. Ted Colleton passes away in Toronto. The 97-year-old Spiritan crossed Canada preaching the culture of life. READ MORE >>>

May

More than one million fill St. Peter’s Square and beyond for the beatification of Pope John Paul II. READ MORE >>>

A shift in the Catholic vote helps Stephen Harper sweep the nation as the Conservatives win a majority government. READ MORE >>>

Former Antigonish Bishop Raymond Lahey pleads guilty to possessing child pornography and is jailed immediately. He still awaits sentencing. READ MORE >>>

The Jesuits mark 400 years in Canada with a re-enactment of the landing of Jesuit Fathers Pierre Biard and Ennemond Massé in Port Royal, N.S. READ MORE >>>

June

Pope Benedict XVI encourages communities built on Christian values and support of the traditional family while on a pilgrimage to Croatia.

Canada’s Catholic bishops publish a pastoral letter on ministry to young people with same-sex attraction that upholds Church teaching, yet shows sensitivity to their challenge. READ MORE >>>

Catholic sportscaster Damian Goddard is fired by Rogers Sportsnet after Tweeting his support of traditional marriage. He later launches a human rights complaint against his former employer. READ MORE >>>

July

As famine devastates nations in the Horn of Africa, an urgent appeal goes out to Canadians to help feed 11 million people who face starvation. READ MORE >>>

Pope Benedict calls for an end to ideologies that promote hatred after 77 Norwegians are killed by Anders Behring Breivik, a right-wing zealot. READ MORE >>>

Retired Archbishop Francis Spence dies at his Kingston, Ont., home at age 85. The archbishop had led the Kingston archdiocese for 20 years. READ MORE >>>

August

Toronto’s Cardinal Aloysius Ambrozic passes away after a long illness. The former archbishop of Toronto is remembered as a man dedicated to Jesus. READ MORE >>>

Thousands of young Catholics descend on the Spanish city of Madrid for the celebration of World Youth Day 2011. Up to 1.5 million attend the closing Mass with Pope Benedict. READ MORE >>>

NDP leader Jack Layton dies and, although he opposed the Church on several life and family issues, is remembered as a spiritual person whose commitment to a caring society had a Christian foundation. READ MORE >>>

September

The Vatican strongly denies that it undermined efforts to protect Irish children from sexual abuse. The Irish government’s Cloyne Report accused Church officials of doing little to safeguard children. READ MORE >>>

The Catholic Register enters the Twittersphere and launches its Facebook page, joining the social media sites used daily by millions of people around the world.

Opposition parties join Canada’s bishops in condemning the Conservative government’s anti-smuggling bill, the first bill up for debate as Parliament resumes. READ MORE >>>

October

Fr. Bob Bedard, founder of the charismatic order of priests the Companions of the Cross in Ottawa, dies after a lengthy illness. READ MORE >>>

The Occupy Toronto movement sets up camp in a park in downtown Toronto in a protest against economic inequality and corporate greed. It joins similar protests around the globe. The site is cleared in late November. READ MORE >>>

The Moammar Ghadafi regime comes to an end with the death of the Libyan strongman at the hands of rebel forces. READ MORE >>>

The ban on a British monarch marrying a Catholic is lifted, though a Catholic still can’t be monarch. Catholics applaud the end of an “unjust discrimination.” READ MORE >>>

November

After months of preparation, English-speaking Catholics welcome the Third Edition of the Roman Missal on the first Sunday of Advent. READ MORE >>>

Fr. Frank Portelli is welcomed as new head of the archdiocese of Toronto’s Office of Catholic Youth. READ MORE >>>

Anti-bullying legislation Bill 13 is introduced in Ontario, but Catholic schools fear the bill will intrude on denominational rights. READ MORE >>>

December

The bleak conditions and rampant poverty on Canada’s First Nations reserves is thrust into the spotlight at Attawapiskat in Northern Ontario, where people are living in housing not much more than tents. READ MORE >>>

After Canada’s Environment Minister Peter Kent declares the Kyoto Protocol a “big blunder,” Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga tells the Durban conference on the environment that the pursuit of money is killing our environment. READ MORE >>>

Archbishop Richard Smith, head of the Canadian bishops’ conference, leads a solidarity mission to Haiti to deepen relations between the Catholic Church in both nations. READ MORE >>>

And don't forget to take a look at all the front covers from the year on our facebook page.

January

Canadian civil engineer Yves Lacourciere is tasked with rebuilding the infrastructure of the Catholic Church in Haiti following the 2010 earthquake that devastated the nation.

Toronto Archbishop Thomas Collins begins his apostolic visitation to Ireland. Collins and Ottawa Archbishop Terrence Prendergast were among four bishops assigned by the Vatican to report on the Irish clergy abuse scandal.

Governor Salman Taseer, governor of Pakistan’s Punjabi province, is assassinated by his bodyguard for expressing sympathy for a Christian woman facing death on blasphemy charges.

February

Bishop Gerald Lacroix is named new archbishop of Quebec City, Canada’s oldest diocese, taking over from Cardinal Marc Ouellet.

Pakistan Minorities Minister Shahbaz Bhatti, on a trip to Canada, says he is living with a death sentence for speaking out against his country’s blasphemy law. Mere weeks later, he is assassinated in Islamabad.

Catholics protest a deliberately provocative art exhibit by Peter Alexander Por at a Toronto art gallery that features a bullet-ridden Pope Benedict XVI.

March

Toronto’s Bishop Peter Hundt is named new bishop for Corner Brook and Labrador, Nfld.

Archbishop Yousif Mansoor is named archbishop of Baghdad after spending the previous 14 years in Canada.

Death and destruction hit Japan as a major earthquake sets off a tsunami that kills upwards of 15,000 people.

More than 100 ex-Anglicans gather in Mississauga, Ont., for a conference to get a feel for what could be their new spiritual home, the Roman Catholic Church.

April

Pope Benedict XVI offers Easter prayers for peace in the world’s ongoing trouble spots, including the Middle East, where the “Arab Spring” is in full swing.

Pro-life hero Fr. Ted Colleton passes away in Toronto. The 97-year-old Spiritan crossed Canada preaching the culture of life.

May

More than one million fill St. Peter’s Square and beyond for the beatification of Pope John Paul II.

A shift in the Catholic vote helps Stephen Harper sweep the nation as the Conservatives win a majority government.

Former Antigonish Bishop Raymond Lahey pleads guilty to possessing child pornography and is jailed immediately. He still awaits sentencing.

The Jesuits mark 400 years in Canada with a re-enactment of the landing of Jesuit Fathers Pierre Biard and Ennemond Massé in Port Royal, N.S.

June

Pope Benedict XVI encourages communities built on Christian values and support of the traditional family while on a pilgrimage to Croatia.

Canada’s Catholic bishops publish a pastoral letter on ministry to young people with same-sex attraction that upholds Church teaching, yet shows sensitivity to their challenge.

Catholic sportscaster Damian Goddard is fired by Rogers Sportsnet after Tweeting his support of traditional marriage. He later launches a human rights complaint against his former employer.

July

As famine devastates nations in the Horn of Africa, an urgent appeal goes out to Canadians to help feed 11 million people who face starvation.

Pope Benedict calls for an end to ideologies that promote hatred after 77 Norwegians are killed by Anders Behring Breivik, a right-wing zealot.

Retired Archbishop Francis Spence dies at his Kingston, Ont., home at age 85. The archbishop had led the Kingston archdiocese for 20 years.

August

Toronto’s Cardinal Aloysius Ambrozic passes away after a long illness. The former archbishop of Toronto is remembered as a man dedicated to Jesus.

Thousands of young Catholics descend on the Spanish city of Madrid for the celebration of World Youth Day 2011. Up to 1.5 million attend the closing Mass with Pope Benedict.

NDP leader Jack Layton dies and, although he opposed the Church on several life and family issues, is remembered as a spiritual person whose commitment to a caring society had a Christian foundation.

September

The Catholic Register enters the Twittersphere and launches its Facebook page, joining the social media sites used daily by millions of people around the world.

Opposition parties join Canada’s bishops in condemning the Conservative government’s anti-smuggling bill, the first bill up for debate as Parliament resumes.

October

Fr. Bob Bedard, founder of the charismatic order of priests the Companions of the Cross in Ottawa, dies after a lengthy illness.

The Occupy Toronto movement sets up camp in a park in downtown Toronto in a protest against economic inequality and corporate greed. It joins similar protests around the globe. The site is cleared in late November.

The Moammar Ghadafi regime comes to an end with the death of the Libyan strongman at the hands of rebel forces.

The ban on a British monarch marrying a Catholic is lifted, though a Catholic still can’t be monarch. Catholics applaud the end of an “unjust discrimination.”

November

After months of preparation, English-speaking Catholics welcome the Third Edition of the Roman Missal on the first Sunday of Advent.

Fr. Frank Portelli is welcomed as new head of the archdiocese of Toronto’s Office of Catholic Youth.

Anti-bullying legislation Bill 13 is introduced in Ontario, but Catholic schools fear the bill will intrude on denominational rights.

December

After Canada’s Environment Minister Peter Kent declares the Kyoto Protocol a “big blunder,” Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga tells the Durban conference on the environment that the pursuit of money is killing our environment.

Archbishop Richard Smith, head of the Canadian bishops’ conference, leads a solidarity mission to Haiti to deepen relations between the Catholic Church in both nations.

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2011 in review

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