How vividly I can still hear them — as though it were recently — the raucous cries resounding across university campuses in the 1960s and early ’70s: “Hey ho, hey ho, Western civ has got to go.”
We owe our children a better discussion
By John B. KostoffThis month 673,000 students were registered to attend English and French Catholic schools in Ontario. Their registration is a choice made by parents who value and acknowledge the importance of Catholic education for their children.
Could this be the end of Catholic education in Canada?
By Ian HunterIf Canadian author Malcolm Gladwell did not actually coin the term “tipping point” he popularized it in his book of that title.
Faith and hope can help renew our relationship with God
By Francis CampbellThe sawed-off four-metre wooden crucifix was carefully lowered to the ground at the entrance to the cemetery.
Malcolm Muggeridge’s words still ring true
By Ian HunterIn 1975 I was five years into a career teaching law and had written two law books. I had also struck up an improbable friendship with the internationally known British author and journalist Malcolm Muggeridge, who had recently written an unlikely bestseller called Jesus Rediscovered.
Today’s St. F.X. forgets its Catholic past
By Francis CampbellA few weeks back, I attended a funeral Mass about a half hour from my home. With the priest’s comforting words and the heavy smell of incense still commandeering our senses, the congregation filed out and into the nearby church hall for sandwiches, tea and a story or two about Sandy, the deceased. The elderly man, from all accounts that flowed from inside the church and out, was a kind, gentle soul who put family and God above all else.
Pope’s Holy Land visit not your ordinary pilgrimage
By Carl HetuThe “principle purpose” of the May 24-26 visit of Pope Francis to the Holy Land is not a conventional pilgrimage, as conducted by John Paul II and Benedict XVI. It is to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the meeting between Pope Paul VI and the Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras I.
Business as usual in Catholic schools
By John B. KostoffJesse Jackson once said, “Text without context is pretext.” His comment applies to the recent discussions around an Ontario Divisional Court decision that clearly is pretext taken out of any contextual understanding.
Our acts of mercy show our allegiance to Jesus
By Ian HunterWhen the disciples questioned Jesus about the end of the world (Matthew c. 4), Jesus described signs and portents, and then related what has since become known as the last judgment. The people of Earth are assembled and the King renders a verdict based on each person’s conduct: “I was hungry and you gave me to eat; I was thirsty and you gave me to drink; I was a stranger and you took me in; naked, and you clothed me; I was sick and you visited me; I was in prison and you came to me.”
In our churches, Jesus takes precedence
By Mary TolentinoIt’s sad to think of a church in ruins.
Land and Sea, the entertaining CBC television documentary show that chronicles the joys and struggles of Atlantic Canadians, recently had an interesting feature on churches in the region that have fallen into disrepair.
Basilica hits the spot for Lenten renewal
By Ian HunterCradle Catholics sometimes miss the wonder of the universality of their Church: universality in two senses — the “here comes everybody” that overpowers the new convert, and the geographic universality of the Church being everywhere in the world so no one is ever without a home.