Arts
Vatican commissions art for display at Venice international exhibition
VATICAN CITY - After years of discussion and at least one failed attempt, the Vatican will open a pavilion at the 2013 Venice Bienniale, a major international contemporary art exhibition.
Dallaire a voice for the children
Canadian Senator Roméo Dallaire asks Anzoyo Tsukia, “Is Joseph Kony the devil incarnate?” A rosary hanging from her neck, she replies that Kony looks normal but everything he does is diabolical.
Organized Crime more than a novelty act
TORONTO - Anyone who has ever attended an organ recital knows that no good concert is complete without stilettos. At least, that’s according to hot and humourous duo Organized Crime, whose Betty and Veronica good looks, costumed antics and serious musical chops are turning the organ world on its head.
Opera tackles brutality inflicted upon Carmelites
TORONTO - The Canadian Opera Company is delving into the turmoil of the French Revolution to tell the story of a group of Carmelite nuns who face death, and how they must rely on their faith in order to accept the horror of their situation to find peace.
Still life in old bones
After more than six decades of marriage, love looks like Craig Morrison caring for his ailing wife Irene in Michael McGowan’s Still Mine. But this isn’t your typical sob story about aging.
Vision series explores religious persecution
TORONTO - Religious persecution, whether by mob violence, popular prejudice or state-imposed restrictions on religious practice, is significant in 163 countries, according to the Pew Research Centre’s Forum on Religion and Public Life, with Christianity being the number one target. The world’s 2.2 billion Christians face significant state or popular persecution in 130 countries, says the Pew Forum, while Aid to the Church in Need estimates 150,000 Christians are killed annually because of their faith.
Provocative art aims to show Jesus is bulletproof
TORONTO - When Toronto artist Viktor Mitic began his Bullet Proof collection, he started with the most iconic image of the past 2,000 years: Jesus Christ.
Bishop Ryan’s ‘rock show choir’ going for gold
Students from Hamilton, Ont.’s Bishop Ryan Catholic Secondary School are going for gold — again — at this year’s Heritage Music Festival May 1 to 5.
Student concert inspired by the Earth
TORONTO - The Earth matters to students and staff at Cardinal Carter Academy for the Arts — it matters enough to inspire prayer, song and art.
42 inspires
To paraphrase the title of an earlier movie about the national pastime, hate strikes out in the historical drama 42 (Warner Bros.) Writer-director Brian Helgeland's uplifting — if sometimes heavy-handed — film recounts the 1947 reintegration of professional baseball after decades of segregated play.
Easter prepares St. Michael’s Choir School for Rome
TORONTO - Holy Week is always a busy time for students of St. Michael’s Choir School, but four-hour rehearsals this year are not just for their requisite masses at St. Michael’s Cathedral. On Easter Monday, 180 boys from the choir school will board a plane and head to Italy for a series of musical engagements, and the opportunity to sing for Pope Francis.
In the good and true is God, says fiddler MacMaster
As a theologian, Natalie MacMaster favours the toe-tapping, hand-clapping, step-dancing-around-the-kitchen-table school of theological inquiry. The Juno-Award-winning fiddler now has an honorary doctor of divinity degree to back up her theology.
Lionheart brings back 14th-century hymns of praise
TORONTO - The Renaissance has always been worth looking at — all those gorgeous paintings and striking sculptures — but it’s also worth a listen.