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A review of the past year from the pages of The Catholic Register.

{mosimage}The shield of Bishop Vincent Nguyen’s coat of arms is on a standard bearing a cross with the five wounds of Christ.

The shield is divided into two main sections. The top section is based on the Book of Revelations 7:9, where the multitude of martyrs, with palm branches in their hands, stand before the throne of the Lamb. The drop of blood flanked by two palm branches has special family significance for Nguyen as his great-great-grandfather is one of the Vietnamese Martyrs.

{mosimage}The field of the shield is divided into sections by a heraldic division called a saltire enhanced. This reflects the form of the traditional arms of the name McGrattan.

In the “X” is also seen the Greek letter Chi which is the first letter in the Greek for Christ.

On January 12 in London and January 13 in Toronto, Bishops William McGrattan and Vincent Nguyen were ordained to serve as auxiliary bishops for the archdiocese of Toronto. Each event was attended by more than 1,000 people and The Catholic Register was on hand to provide full coverage.

The following links are to the articles which appeared in our special section on their ordinations on January 17, 2010.

I used to spend my time glaring at people who talked on their cell phones while I tried to sleep on the commuter train I ride to work five days a week. I would cringe when I heard someone popping their bubble gum or chewing it with an open mouth. I have to admit that sometimes I still do.

OMG. This tiny, seemingly harmless acronym is just one variation of a phrase that has invaded our everyday lives, from conversation to television scripting to instant messaging.

As I was sitting in on a group discussion, the topic of same-sex relationships arose. The majority of people in the discussion were Catholic and all had pretty strong opinions on the subject. This is to be expected, though what is not to be expected was some of the rude and hurtful comments I heard in that conversation. The fact that someone I know is gay was sitting right beside me made the whole experience that much worse.

When I was three years old, I was unable to organize my thoughts and speak either French or English. My dad spoke to my brother and me only in French. My mom spoke to us in English.