It was eight years ago this week that Canada’s Br. André Bessette was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI. The humble Holy Cross brother who was instrumental in the construction of St. Joseph’s Oratory in Montreal died Jan. 6, 1937 at the age of 91. Over his remarkable life and in the years since, he has been credited with many miraculous healings. During the six days after his death, up to a million people filed past his coffin, surrounded by hundreds of crutches and canes from pilgrims who attested to his gifts. Here is an excerpt from The Register of Jan. 21, 1937:
Catholic families in Quebec fight mandatory sex-ed
MONTREAL – The re-introduction of sex education into Quebec schools goes against fundamental rights of parents, says the president of the Association of Catholic Parents of Quebec.
Death mask sparks study of Quebec saint
QUEBEC CITY – St. Marie de l’Incarnation, a French Ursuline nun sent to establish the order in New France in the 17th century, has not yet delivered all her secrets.
OTTAWA – The graves of at least a dozen Ukrainians who died while interned in a remote camp in Quebec during the First World War are slowly fading into the forest landscape.
Quebec bishops ponder possibility of married priests
Longueuil diocese takes on cathedral’s $300,000 debt
The future of an historic cathedral in Quebec has been secured by a transaction that saw the local bishop trade away a former convent and his diocese assume the cathedral’s $300,000 debt.
Cardinal Collins pleads for aid to Christian refugees
At an ecumenical prayer service for peace in the Middle East, Cardinal Thomas Collins made his most direct appeal yet for the Canadian government to pay special attention to Christian refugees as it distributes aid in the region and accepts refugees for resettlement.
Editorial: A test of compassion
As Montreal Auxiliary Bishop Alain Faubert quite rightly puts it, there is nothing complicated about how we should respond to a summer influx of asylum seekers at Quebec’s southern border.
Wife alleges Quebec doctor let her husband die
OTTAWA – A Catholic woman has filed a complaint with a Quebec health agency alleging that her husband was denied antibiotics to treat a bladder infection after doctors determined it was better to let him die because he had cancer.
Church reaches out to aid asylum seekers
OTTAWA – As waves of asylum seekers continue to cross illegally into Canada from Donald Trump’s America, Catholic dioceses in Quebec and eastern Ontario are mobilizing to provide the border crossers with food, shelter and pastoral support.
OTTAWA – When no priests were available, the Bishop of the Quebec diocese of Rouyn-Noranda sought and received Vatican permission for a local nun to officiate at a wedding.
Quebec's Cardinal Lacroix warns of feminism’s pitfalls
OTTAWA – It is a “big mistake” for women to embrace a feminism that says achieving equality with men comes “only when they erase, minimize, or reject their femininity and motherhood,” said Cardinal Gerald Lacroix of Quebec.
OTTAWA – Euthanasia opponents find it a “great irony” the physician who championed Quebec’s euthanasia law now has second thoughts.
Montreal seminary given official heritage status
Canadian religious travel to meet members of First Nations
WENDAKE, Quebec – Inside the traditional Huron longhouse, faint glimmerings cast light on the attendees' faces. Standing on a stool, Simon Perusse, dressed in his traditional costume, told of the lifestyle and values of the Huron-Wendat Nation.