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Catholic Register Staff

Catholic Register Staff

Newly ordained Bishop Jon Hansen of the Diocese of Mackenzie-Fort Smith, wearing a seal-skin mitre and locally made chasuble, addresses fellow bishops and the crowd gathered for his ordination in the gymnasium of St. Patrick’s High School in Yellowknife, N.W.T., on March 16.

Our regular deep dive into The Catholic Register’s archive during our 125th  anniversary year isn’t complete without a few sports stories. As the NHL edges toward the playoffs, we recall one of the biggest trades in league history. Fifty years ago this month the Toronto Maple Leafs sent their all-star Frank Mahovlich to Detroit in a six-player swap. The Register’s Fr. Thomas Raby, in his column from March 23, 1968, couldn’t help but muse about what a trade like this could mean in Church terms.


The Irish influence on The Catholic Register was readily apparent during the first half-century of the 125-year-old publication, and it was never more apparent than on St. Patrick’s Day. The March 17 feast day was dutifully and thoroughly covered each year, as evidenced by this abridged account of the St. Patrick’s Day concert at Toronto’s Massey Hall from the March 22, 1906 edition:

In honour of International Women’s Day on March 8, we look into The Catholic Register archive for a story of the first Canadian-born saint and founder of the Grey Nuns of Montreal, St. Marguerite d’Youville, born in Varennes, Que., in 1701. This story was published May 9, 1959, days after her beatification by Pope John XXIII. She was canonized in 1990.


Monica Marcelli-Chu had to go halfway around the world to figure out her life path, and it led her right back home.

To mark The Register’s 125th year, we are re-publishing some stories from our archive. February 1893 marked the 15th anniversary of the reign of Pope Leo XIII (below), who would go on to serve 25 years, the third longest reign in history. This excerpt from The Register of Feb. 2, 1893 looks at the Pope’s election and his accomplishments:

To mark The Register’s 125th year, we are re-publishing some interesting stories from our archive. As we celebrate Black History Month, here’s an article from March 20, 1965, reporting on a march in Ottawa that drew thousands in support of the civil rights movement in the United States. The event was held shortly after the historic Selma to Montgomery march in Alabama on March 7 that resulted in state troopers attacking demonstrators on what became known as “Bloody Sunday.”

To mark The Catholic Register’s 125th year, we are digging into our archive to re-publish interesting stories from the pages of our past. As the 2018 Winter Olympics prepares to open Feb. 9 in Pyeongchang, South Korea, we look back at Canada’s hockey entry in the 1964 Games at Innsbruck, a team built and coached by Fr. David Bauer. A controversial scoring system meant Canada finished fourth and out of the medals despite a 5-2 record, but the team’s showing inspired words of comfort from columnist Fr. Tom Raby in The Register, in the Feb. 22, 1964 issue:


As a member of the Catholic Press Association of the United States and Canada and the Canadian Church Press, The Catholic Register adheres to a code of ethics which includes a pledge to fully attribute material reprinted from other sources. Following allegations that a freelance contributor to The Register failed to meet those standards, the article originally published on this page has been removed.
To mark The Register’s 125th year, we are digging into our archive to re-publish interesting stories from the pages of our past. As Pope Francis winds up his visit to Chile and Peru, we take a look back at another papal visit — the first one ever to Canada. Here is an excerpt from The Register article on Pope John Paul II’s first day on Canadian soil, Sept. 9, 1984.