NEWS

OTTAWA - A Hamilton, Ont., father battling to protect his children from anti- Christian indoctrination in the public schools says he is only seeking the same rights of religious accommodation like those already accorded Muslims.

Dr. Steve Tourloukis, a Greek Orthodox believer, is taking the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board to court, seeking a declarative ruling that recognizes his right to be informed when a classroom will be teaching curriculum contrary to his Christian faith, the right to have his children exempted from such teaching and an acknowledgement from the court of parents’ rights to educate their children.

What’s at stake is the “ability to influence the moral development of our children,” he said. “Education is a way to recruit child soldiers. In 20 years there will be no Christians left to fight the battle.” The school system is imposing an “unlearning process” on children to undermine the traditional beliefs they are taught at home.

Ahead of court appearances Nov. 21 and 22 in Hamilton, Tourloukis spoke in two Catholic venues in Ottawa Nov. 17, warning the same provincial equity and inclusiveness strategy is being foisted on Catholic schools.

Tourloukis said he is “heartbroken” about what has happened in Catholic schools, pointing to the province’s forcing gay-straight alliances upon the system in its equity legislation. Taking his children, aged six and eight, out of the public system and into the Catholic schools would not protect them from the kind of indoctrination he is already taking on.

“The Catholic schools are like the Vancouver safe injection site,” he said. “The drugs are the same but the needles are cleaner. As a parent, I want to choose what’s best for my kids, not what causes them the least harm.”

Tourloukis said he is only asking for the same religious accommodation that is accorded Muslims. Muslim students can be exempted from any school discussion of Christmas, Easter or Halloween, while their requests for special prayer time are accommodated as are requests to opt-out of gym for modesty reasons or out of music classes for religious reasons.

“I’m only asking for what other faiths receive,” he said.

The school board was not interested in learning about his concerns as a Christian, he said. Instead, he confronted a “bigoted stereotype” that paints Christians as homophobes.

The board is treating constitutional rights of religious freedom as if they are subject to the Ontario Equity Policy and not the other way around, he said. He said he was told it was too difficult for the board to inform him about when subject matter might come up.

Tourloukis decried the fact there is no organized inter-denominational effort to “stop this madness.”

“Our collective response as parents and as the Body of Christ has been pathetically underwhelming,” he said.

“We have failed to recognize our sacred responsibility to our children. I’m doing nothing heroic. These are my children for crying out loud. I will not be an accomplice in the corruption of my children.”

He pointed out Catholics should not blame their leaders. The gay community is excellent at organization and even though it is relatively small in number, when one speaks up politicians know many more stand behind them.

Tourloukis’ lawyer, Ottawa-based Albertos Polizogopoulos, said the court battle could cost $50,000, but could go up tenfold should the case end up at the Supreme Court of Canada.

More information about Tourloukis’ case can be found at www.defendingparents.com, which is raising money for similar parental rights cases elsewhere in Canada.

MARKHAM, ONT. - After a four-year process, and the amalgamation of four congregations, the Sisters of St. Joseph in Canada have emerged.

“We have shifted in our identity from the Sisters of St. Joseph of Hamilton, London, Peterborough and Pembroke and now we are the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph in Canada,” said Sr. Margo Ritchie, speaking via telephone from the order’s chapter in Markham, Ont., which ran from Nov. 18-24.

“Together, we feel that we can engage the crucial issues in a way that transforms us and the systems in our world and we could perhaps have a larger voice.”

The move actually brings the Sisters of St. Joseph closer to their origins, when there was only one congregation.

“So it’s a natural impulse for becoming one again. But there was an emerging energy in all of us to do something new and we felt we could be that better together.”

Ritchie believes the change will expand the sisters’ consciousness of who they are.

“And some of us may make choices to move if there is a particular job opening in another neighbourhood.”
The Sisters of St. Joseph of Toronto and of Sault Ste. Marie were also a part of the four-year process but decided it was best for them to not take part in the amalgamation at this time.

That said, “All the congregations will continue to work together,” said Ritchie.

With approximately 300 sisters in the newly formed congregation, 137 sisters were in attendance at the chapter.

“People were very eager to be part of this new moment.”

At press time, the chapter had only undergone its initial two days which began exploring the direction the unified sisters will head in for the next four years. The “coalescing of various voices” discussed ecological justice, the growing disparity between the rich and the poor and indigenous rights, said Ritchie.

Sr. Sue Wilson said the conversation focused on the interconnected nature of the sisters’ lives.

“No matter what issue we try to take hold of — whether it’s poverty or environmental damage — you start to see how the issue is connected with our social systems, our economic systems, our political systems and environmental systems,” said Wilson. “So given the interconnected nature, we really see a lot of value in contemplative practice to get at that level of interconnection.”

Through this, the sisters will be better able to see root causes of injustice and how to bring about systemic change, she added.

Sr. Joyce Murray said the discussion tried to better understand what the needs of today mean for the ministry and mission of the sisters.

“We have always tried to respond to the needs around us at the moment and have always been conscious of currents in our world,” said Murray.

One of the objectives of the chapter is to formulate a new direction statement, said Ritchie.

“We’re really clear we don’t want a nice statement that gets framed and put on a wall,” she said. “We want to challenge ourselves.”

Ritchie, who held the position of congregational leader for the Sisters of St. Joseph of London as of press time, said the congregational leadership circle of five women was to be elected during the chapter, after The Register’s press time.

UPDATED 22/11/12

TORONTO - As University of St. Michael's College contract lecturers, teaching assistants and continuing education instructors prepare for their second week on strike, union leaders and university administration both say a deal is getting closer.

"Students are feeling an impact," said Celtic Mythology lecturer Daniel Brielmaier, speaking for CUPE Local 3902 Unit 4. "We don't like that they're feeling it."

Papers aren't getting marked, some classes have been cancelled and others are bogging down without the 38 sessional lecturers, teaching assistants and part-time instructors who teach at St. Michael's, said Brielmaier.

St. Mike's administration claims the strike hasn't been felt by very many students.

"Some courses are being taught; some are being rescheduled. The effect is relatively small at this point," said Robert Edgett, the executive director of alumni affairs and development who is acting as media liaison for the Catholic college at the University of Toronto. "But our concern continues to be for students. We want to be sure that their term and exams are held. That's why we're working so hard to come to some resolution."

A rally in front of the Kelly Library at noon Nov. 21 attracted about 60 students and union activists in support of the contract teachers.

Talks were scheduled to continue Thursday afternoon after being put off a day while the administration worked out a new offer.

The union, which represents academic staff on contracts of less than 12 months, has been pushing for a greater degree of job security. The mostly younger academics want a right of first refusal if their course is being offered again.

The system of repeat short-term contracts with no assurance of future work has been hardest on theology lecturers, many of whom have been teaching the same course for years but never know whether they will work again next year, said Brielmaier.

"We're not going to negotiate or talk about the terms of the negotiation in public," said Edgett. "We're going to leave that to the bargaining table."

The union members claim to have Pope Benedict XVI on their side, citing his thoughts in the encyclical Caritas in Veritate on the right to secure and meaningful work.

The administration is confident the two sides will quickly find a solution.

"I hope we'll beat the NHL," said Edgett.

"We just want to get a contract and go back to teaching," said Local 3902 chair Abe Nasirzadeh.

DUBLIN - Expressing anguish and sorrow over the death of a pregnant woman in an Irish hospital, the country's Catholic bishops said that pregnant women must receive all treatment to save their lives, even if it results in the unintended death of an unborn child.

The statement Nov. 19 came three weeks after the deaths of Savita Halappanavar, 31, who died after a miscarriage, and her unborn child. Halappanavar died after hospital medical staff determined they could not end the child's life because they could detect a fetal heart beat, even as the woman's husband, Praveen, urged them to save his wife's life.

Halappanaver's death Oct. 28 at University Hospital Galway has led to an outpouring of public anger. Thousands of people have taken to the streets calling for the country's constitutional ban on abortion to be overturned.

In its statement, the Standing Committee of the Irish Catholic Bishops' Conference described the case as "a devastating personal tragedy" for the Halappanavar family and acknowledged that the circumstances of her death had "stunned our country."

The bishops' statement sought to clarify Church teaching on the need for medical intervention to save the life of a mother. The bishops said they believe Ireland's medical guidelines contain adequate ethical provisions to allow medical staff to intervene as long as necessary steps have been taken to save both mother and unborn child.

The bishops insisted that the Catholic Church has never taught that the life of a child in the womb should be preferred to that of a mother.

"Whereas abortion is the direct and intentional destruction of an unborn baby and is gravely immoral in all circumstances, this is different from medical treatments which do not directly and intentionally seek to end the life of the unborn baby," the bishops said in their statement.

The bishops also reiterated a statement made by Dublin Archbishop Diarmuid Martin to Catholic News Service Nov. 18 that Ireland is a safe place for expectant mothers. Pointing to international health care data, the bishops said "Ireland, without abortion, remains one of the safest countries in the world in which to be pregnant and to give birth. This is a position that should continue to be cherished and strengthened in the interests of mothers and unborn children in Ireland."

The maternal mortality rate in Ireland stands at 4.1 per 100,000 births and is among the lowest in Europe.
Martin told CNS he believed doctors, nurses and midwives "set out always to save lives."

"The fact that our maternal mortality is so low is a sign that there is something that is working well in the system," he said.

Meanwhile, pro-life campaigners have expressed concern at the appointment of Sabaratnam Arulkumaran, head of obstetrics and gynecology at St. George's, University of London, as chairman of a Health Service Executive inquiry into Halappanavar's death. They cited a 2009 statement in which he argued that abortion should be a legal right for women.

VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI condemned escalating hostilities between Israel and the Palestinians, saying hatred and violence are never an appropriate solution to problems.

He also called for greater efforts to promote a truce and peace negotiations.

"I am following with great concern the escalation of violence between Israelis and Palestinians in the Gaza Strip," the Pope said at the end of his general audience Nov. 21.

"Hatred and violence are not the solution to problems," he said to applause from those gathered in the Paul VI hall.

"I encourage the initiatives and efforts of those who are seeking to establish a ceasefire and to promote negotiations."

He also called on leaders on both sides of the conflict to make "courageous decisions in favour of peace and put an end to a conflict that has negative repercussions throughout the entire Middle East region, which is already troubled by too many conflicts and is in need of peace and reconciliation."

The Pope expressed his closeness to victims and all those suffering because of the violence.

His appeal came as both sides in the conflict launched fresh attacks. Just hours before the Pope spoke, a bomb exploded on a bus in Tel Aviv, wounding at least 10 people. That attack followed a week-long Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip aimed at stopping rocket strikes by Palestinian militants.

More than 130 Palestinians and at least five Israelis have been killed since Israel launched its offensive.

JERUSALEM - As diplomatic efforts were underway to reach a ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel Nov. 20, Catholics on both sides of the Gaza border prayed for peace.

"When we pray for peace, we pray for peace for everyone," said Fr. Yoel Salvaterra, who serves the Hebrew-speaking Catholic community in Beersheba, after a morning in which more than 20 rockets landed in the city. "Our prayers have no borders. We know we are suffering here and they are suffering there. It is just suffering."

Egypt was reported to have been brokering a ceasefire agreement between Hamas and the Israeli government late Nov. 20, according to news reports.

The parish celebrated Mass Nov. 18 in the church bomb shelter, Salvaterra said, and only 15 people came to pray, about half the normal number. The community has about 150 members.

"People live in fear," he said. "Everybody is staying home. Sometimes they call me for assurance, sometimes I call them. The situation has not been easy as even before the Israeli operation we suffered from rockets once or twice a month. The uncertainty was difficult."

Though several homes in Beersheba took direct hits from the rockets, no one from the community has been injured, he said.

Going to Sunday Mass is a way of supporting one another and finding strength through prayer, said Rafoul Assy, 50, who hails from the northern all-Melkite village of Fassuta and has lived in Beersheba for more than 20 years. Although Assy was unable to attend Mass because of his work, he said his wife and four children found comfort in the familiar routine of the prayers.

"The Mass itself took only three-quarters of an hour but they stayed there for over an hour talking to the other people," said Assy. "It is difficult for the children. They spend their days in the bomb shelter. Every time there is a siren the little one grabs the iPad and runs to the shelter. They are afraid."

In Gaza, George Antone, 31, project manager for the Pontifical Mission for Palestine, told Catholic News Service Nov. 20 that people are staying home because it is too risky to leave. No one knows where Israel's bombs may land next, he said.

"The situation here is terrible. Last night it was as if we were living in hell. Every 15 minutes you could hear an explosion."

One member of Holy Family parish in Gaza died of a heart attack during a bombing and had just been buried at the church cemetery, he said. Otherwise, people leave their homes only to get essentials. Supplies such as fuel and bread are running low because flour can't be delivered to the bakeries, he said.

"I don't like the killing on either side. I respect life," Antone said. "This is not the way in which we can find a solution. Peace never comes with blood. That is what we say to the people in church. This will lead to nothing only a very bad scenario on both sides and the people will pay the price."

He added that he sees the conflict between Hamas and the Israeli government as not only political but also one stemming from religious fanaticism from both Muslims and Jews.

"We Christians are not political, we call for peace and to save lives," Antone said. "This conflict will lead to nothing. We pray a real truce will be reached and then afterward they have to start negotiating for peace. That is the only way to solve the problem. They have to sit and speak and find a way where there will be no war for our children and the coming generations."

In a Nov. 19 report Sami El-Yousef, regional director for the Catholic Near East Welfare Association's office in Jerusalem, noted widespread destruction in Gaza and said almost all of the Christian institutions have sustained some damage from the shelling in the form of broken glass and doors.

He said children and the elderly are paying the heaviest price and called for prayers that the hostilities would end as soon as possible.

VATICAN CITY - The Nativity story, like the whole story of Christ, is not merely an event in the past, but has unfolding significance for people today, with implications for such issues as the limits of political power and the purpose of human freedom, Pope Benedict writes in his third and final volume on the life and teachings of Jesus.

Jesus of Nazareth: The Infancy Narratives is only 132 pages long, yet it includes wide-ranging reflections on such matters as the significance of the virgin birth and the distinctive views of nature in ancient pagan and Judeo-Christian cultures.
The book was formally presented at the Vatican Nov. 20, and was scheduled for publication in English and eight other languages in 50 countries Nov. 21.

In the book, Pope Benedict examines Jesus' birth and childhood as recounted in the Gospels of Sts. Matthew and Luke. His interpretation of the biblical texts refers frequently to the work of other scholars and draws on a variety of academic fields, including linguistics, political science, art history and the history of science.

The book's publication completes the three-volume Jesus of Nazareth series, which also includes From the Baptism in the Jordan to the Transfiguration (2007) and Holy Week: From the Entrance into Jerusalem to the Resurrection (2011).

Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman, said at the Nov. 20 book launch that the three books are the "fruit of a long inner journey" by Joseph Ratzinger, whose personal views they represent. While much of what the Pope says is accepted Catholic dogma, the texts themselves are not part of the Church's magisterium and their arguments are free to be disputed, Lombardi said.
In his new book, the Pope argues that Matthew and Luke, in their Gospel accounts, set out to "write history, real history that had actually happened, admittedly interpreted and understood in the context of the word of God."

The Pope calls the virgin birth and the Resurrection "cornerstones" of Christian faith, since they show God acting directly and decisively in the material world.

"These two moments are a scandal to the modern spirit," which expects and allows God to act only in ideas, thoughts and the spiritual world, not the material, he writes. Yet it is not illogical or irrational to suppose that God possesses creative powers and power over matter, otherwise "then He is simply not God."

Pope Benedict examines the political context of the time of Jesus' birth, which featured both the so-called "Pax Romana" — the widespread peace brought by the Roman ruler Caesar Augustus — and King Herod's thirst for power, which led to the slaughter of the innocents.

"Pax Christi is not necessarily opposed to Pax Augusti," he writes. "Yet the peace of Christ surpasses the peace of Augustus as heaven surpasses Earth."

The political realm has "its own sphere of competence and responsibility"; it oversteps those bounds when it "claims divine status and divine attributes" and makes promises it cannot deliver.

The other extreme comes with forms of religious persecution when rulers "tolerate no other kingdom but their own," he writes.

Any sign God announces "is given not for a specific political situation, but concerns the whole history of humanity," he writes.
The Pope writes that the Three Wise Men symbolize the purification of science, philosophy and rationality.

"They represent the inner dynamic of religion toward self-transcendence, which involves the search for truth, the search for the true God," the Pope writes.

The Pope also argues that the star of Bethlehem was a true celestial event. It "seems to be an established fact," he writes, that the conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn happened in 7-6 B.C., which "as we have seen is now thought likely to have been when Jesus was born."

A key topic in the book is the role of human freedom in God's divine plan for humanity.

"The only way (God) can redeem man, who was created free, is by means of a free 'yes' to His will," the Pope writes. It is precisely "the moment of free, humble yet magnanimous obedience," such as Mary and Joseph showed when listening to God, "in which the loftiest choice of human freedom is made."

Jesus, too, in His human freedom, understood He was bound to obedience to His heavenly Father, even at the cost of His earthly life.

The missing 12-year-old, rediscovered by an anxious Mary and Joseph in the Temple, was not there "as a rebel against His parents, but precisely as an obedient (son), acting out the same obedience that leads to the cross and the Resurrection," the Pope writes.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNS) -- The Islamabad High Court ordered police to dismiss blasphemy charges against a Christian Pakistani girl whose arrest and detention drew international condemnation.

The ruling from Chief Justice Iqbal Hammeed ur Rehman Nov. 19 said there was no evidence that Rimsha Masih burned papers from the Quran, reported Pakistan's Dawn news agency.

"The court has quashed the case, declaring Rimsha innocent," Akmal Bhatti, the girl's attorney, told Agence France-Presse.
Rimsha was taken into police custody Aug. 18 after a resident of the area in which the girl and her family lived accused her of burning pages of the Islamic holy book. She was released on bail Sept. 8.

Two weeks after Rimsha was picked up, Khalid Jadoon Chishti, the imam or prayer leader who accused her of burning pages of the Quran, was taken into police custody. According to a police official quoted by the Associated Press, witnesses claim the imam tore pages from a Quran and planted them along with burned pieces of paper in the girl's bag.

He faces charges of planting evidence and desecrating the Quran used against the girl. The courts have yet to rule in the case.
Rimsha's parents said she is 11 years old and has Down syndrome; a court-appointed physician reported she was about 14 and is developmentally delayed.

Paul Bhatti, the only Christian member of Pakistan's federal cabinet, confirmed the high court had dismissed the case.

"I welcome this order. Justice has been done and the law of the land has been upheld by the court," he told Agence France-Presse.

"It will send out a positive image of Pakistan in the international community that there is justice for all and that society has risen up for justice and intolerance," he said.

Out of fear for their safety, Rimsha and her family moved to an undisclosed location after the girl's release.

KOKRAJHAR, India (CNS) -- Besides her family, the most valuable things Majoni Bibi has these days are a few clothes, medicated mosquito nets, cooking utensils, water storage buckets and sleeping mats.

Bibi, a Muslim refugee forced with her family from their home as fighting erupted in July between tribal Bodos and Muslim settlers in Assam state, praised Catholic relief workers for the donations as her family continues to live in a camp for internally displaced people.

"We are very happy the Christians have helped in a big way. But for them, our life would have been miserable," said Bibi as she held her infant, who was born the camp at Basagaon.

Bibi is among hundreds of thousands of people displaced by months of ethnic clashes. She told Catholic News Service that had it not been for Catholic-run charities and the efforts of the Missionaries of Charity sisters, she and her family would have little.
"These sisters cared for us and (church workers) gave valuable and useful things," said Bibi, pointing to Sister Jacoba, superior of the Missionaries of Charity convent in nearby Bongaigaon.

Church workers have visited the camp and several others in the region, providing food and a variety of services and supplies.
The fighting has left more than 90 people dead and about 500,000 homeless in Kokrajhar region. More than 200,000 refugees -- the majority of them Muslims -- languish in 130 relief camps scattered across four districts.

Several Muslim refugees shared their appreciation for the workers' dedicated service in the camps in the Bodo heartland.

"The only people who came out to help us were the Christians," said Jahanara Begum, living in a riverbed camp in Basagaon.
Begum told the church workers that she had lost thousands of pounds of raw rice she had stocked in her home for sale when she, her husband and five children fled Dewalguri, a village attacked July 23.

"The church workers have shown real love for us and visited the camps regularly and attended to our people," Begum said.

Father David Napoleon, director of the Bongaigaon Diocese's social service program, said he has coordinated his work with Catholic Relief Services and Caritas India. More than two dozen emergency workers, including medical teams from St. Augustine Hospital in Bongaigaon joined the Missionaries of Charity sisters in visiting the camps.

"But it has not been easy. Nearly 15,000 Christians among the Bodos have also become homeless and some of our people have been strongly objecting to reaching out to the Muslim refugees," he said.

"But we told them that this was a humanitarian crisis and as true Christians, we have the duty to help all those in need," he added.
Harun Rashid Mondal, coordinator of a relief committee distributing rice and other food to refugee families, told CNS that "whatever may be the international talk of conflict between Muslims and Christians, here Christians are helping us like real brothers."

"The care and attention the Christians have shown to our people has helped change their attitude to the Christians. Real friends are those who help the people in need. The sisters have shown us what is real love," Mondal, a Muslim, said of the Missionaries of Charity who had helped bathe refugee children.

The anxiety of the Bodo community over Christians reaching out to Muslims was evident during a visit to Bodo relief camps in the town of Kokrajhar.

"My husband was stabbed (to death) and how can we can go back and live in the same place?" asked Korida Sanhala of Fakiragram village, who was at the Bodo camp.

"Sister, why do you still go to the camps of those (Muslim) people?" posed another Bodo woman to Missionaries of Charity Sister Leo Therese, even as men of the Bodo community rejected the plea of government officials to return the refugees to their village.

"They should not be helped," a young Bodo refugee woman reminded another nun when the church workers reached the Catholic relief camp at Kailo Mailo, more than 60 miles from Basagaon.

"Now our main focus is on youth-centered programs to deal positively with their trauma and anger and foster healthy interpersonal relationship," said Kaplianlal Thangluai, program officer for CRS in northeast India.

The program is facilitated by CRS-trained volunteers selected from among the refugees and residents of the host villages.

"We are also running a child-friendly space for children in the relief camps, as the children do not go to school," Thangluai added.

TORONTO - Toronto's Filipino Catholics gathered Nov. 18 to honour one of their own who was last month elevated to sainthood.

About 1,300 people celebrated a Tagalog-language Mass at Our Lady of Assumption Church in honour of St. Pedro Calungsod of Cebu, a saint who shares many similarities with the people who sat in the pews thousands of kilometres from their homeland.

"We can identify with this young man because he came from a poor family and he became a migrant like all of us," said pastor Fr. Ben Ebcas. "The challenges during the time of St. Pedro are similar but different as well because the challenge is now in terms of the work opportunities, the job opportunities and the loneliness."

Ebcas continued by saying that financial stress, religious resistance in popular culture and Toronto's increasing diversity are challenges for the community.

"These are the challenges that sometimes rock our faith but if we have a person who we can draw inspiration from then we can say if (St. Pedro) was able to do it as a young man why not us because we were baptized in the same faith," he said. "It's very challenging to stand up for your faith in times of trials and tribulations and he's a great example for the young people."

Pope Benedict XVI canonized St. Pedro along with six others Oct. 21, including St. Kateri Tekakwitha.

Born in the Philippines in 1654, St. Pedro was chosen at age 14 as an exemplary young catechist to accompany the Spanish Jesuits in their mission to the Ladrones Islands, Philippines, later renamed the Mariana Islands. Inconsistent deliveries of provisions, harsh terrain and devastating typhoons made missionary life on the islands difficult to say the least — not to mention the loneliness from an absence of family which the immigrant parishioners can relate to.

But nature was not the only thing working against St. Pedro and the other missionaries. Influenced by rumours that missionaries had been using poisoned holy water for baptisms, local islanders resisted the Catholic influence. When word spread that the missionaries had performed a baptism on a village chief's child, he rose up against the missionaries and killed Calungsod. He was but 17 years old when he was martyred.

On March 5, 2000 Pope John Paul II beatified Calungsod who became the patron of Filipino youth, overseas Filipino workers and the archdiocese of Cebu, Philippines.

"The values that are worth emulating in the live of St. Pedro, as well the other saints, are still important values of today," said Ebcas. "The virtue of faith and hope and charity, they go beyond the bounds of time constraints."

While Ebcas said St. Pedro is a role model for all Catholics, it is seeing the youth engage with the new saint which really has him excited. Zanaida Yu, secretary for the archdiocese of Toronto's Filipino Catholic Mission, feels likewise. Yu, who organized the post-Mass reception at the parish hall, said the presence of the youth choir, who were organized just for the Mass, really touched her.

"It's a great feeling and very uplifting to see the young boys and girls, the youth, rendering a hymn for St. Pedro. That is very, very inspiring and a gift of God," she said. "We have been praying so hard for his canonization over the last 10 years. Now that he is a saint we have to propagate the devotion especially among the youth."

The parish plans to hold more events to celebrate St. Pedro's canonization.