It has been a year of shame and humiliation for the Church. The clerical abuse scandals have scarred thousands of victims and mortified the faithful worldwide. They have also spurred appeals for repentance and renewal, appeals that are appropriate at Easter.

VATICAN – To strengthen and support young people in the faith, members of the Synod of Bishops will need to listen to their real-life stories, interpret what they hear in the light of the Gospel and make decisions that will lead to an authentic renewal of the Catholic Church, said Brazilian Cardinal Sergio da Rocha.

ROME – For more than 900 years, the Sovereign Order of the Knights of Malta has seen its fair share of victories, defeats and institutional changes.

In a recent Toronto Sun column, John Snobelen had four wise, albeit chilling, watch words for those in the not-for-profit world. They are: “The atrophy of purpose.”

OTTAWA – “Inspiration” is an word often heard around the New Evangelization Summit and it has plenty to draw on for this year’s edition May 12-13 in Ottawa.

Andrew and Martha sat glumly. They were stuck in the same argument they’d had so many times before in their life together as a couple. One stabbed using sharp words, the other stonewalled using the silent treatment.

SHARON, ONT. - A group gathers under the full moon at Regina Mundi Renewal Centre on a Saturday evening in late August. They light up the night with candles. The flames illuminate faces that include a grandfather and granddaughters, teens and their parents, small families and large ones — people of all ages.

EDMONTON - Paulist Father Thomas Ryan was turning 50 when he decided he didn’t want just another birthday cake, a scoop of ice cream and “Happy Birthday” sung to him.

OTTAWA - Parish renewal is the key to the new evangelization and the survival of the Church, say organizers of the Summer Institute of New Evangelization.

VATICAN CITY - The mission-oriented agencies of the Church must guard against operating like nongovernmental organizations, empty of Christ's presence, Pope Francis said.

 

The Catholic Register is proud to present its annual feature on retreat & renewal centres which help the mind, body and soul.

You can browse the articles below and see all the ads on the Digital Edition. The original pull-out section appeared in the April 19, 2015 issue.

It’s not just our bodies that need a workout, our souls need training too.

That’s what St. Paschal Baylon Church’s young adult ministry will be doing this year for its annual retreat April 25-26.

Earlier this year, I had a “dilemma.” There were five retreats happening in the same month — some landing on the same weekends. Which retreat should I go on? There was a Chinese Catholic students’ retreat, a quad university chaplaincies including my alma mater, one with the University of Toronto, another one on discernment and the silent retreat with the York University chaplaincy. In the end, I chose the days of discernment retreat. Funny enough, I ended up making a decision to go on a retreat to learn how to make better life decisions.

For the busy person who can’t get away for a spiritual retreat weekend, all they may need is to turn on their computer.

Virtual retreats are a fairly new concept — a retreat conducted through online media, often based on a time and place of the individual’s choosing.

OMAHA, Neb. - Working to establish and build a business that would become one of the largest discount brokerages in the United States — TD Ameritrade — Joe Ricketts found some 20 years ago he was drifting away from the Catholic faith and values that formed him growing up in Nebraska City.