hand and heart

The recent post office troubles have impacted our regular fundraising efforts. Please consider supporting the Register and Catholic journalism by using one of the methods below:

  • Donate online
  • Donate by e-transfer to accounting@catholicregister.org
  • Donate by telephone: 416-934-3410 ext. 406 or toll-free 1-855-441-4077 ext. 406

Starting to feel Francis is including me out

My inclination is to defend whoever is our pope. I say this for several reasons. For one a pope is Christ’s shadow on Earth. I also believe popes are chosen by men influenced by the Holy Spirit. Lastly, I’m a convert. The idea of criticizing a pope seems presumptuous for someone relatively new to the faith.

The surprising simplicity of meaning the world

Presence has been swirling around me, chasing me in the fall wind, working its way through my hair. I taste it in time with friends, in singing in a choir, and in the longing to run away from what is hard.

Prudence gives rise to virtuous leadership

The world today has numerous crises — climate change, pandemic, growing discrepancies of power and wealth, the nuclear threat and war, not only in Ukraine but wars in places that go underreported. Perhaps the greatest crisis is the lack of leadership capable of dealing with these substantive crises.

Readers Speak Out: October 23, 2022

Magazine huzzahs

I want to extend my congratulations to the staff of The Catholic Register for the excellent commemorative magazine Penance and Progress. The articles are thorough and thought-provoking. 

Editorial: Slippery slope anyone?

While creating the generation that came to life from 1946 to 1964, Canadians were in the midst of the Baby Boom.

Expanding the work of Church on the Street

I have often prayed for others to join the ministry of “The Church on the Street.” However, even though many have come to look and see, none has chosen to follow. My offer of “franchises available” has failed to convince. Unfortunately, the front-page news this week of two murders in the area dampened any enthusiasm there might have been.

Get over ourselves and get with God’s program

The best sermon I ever heard was delivered by Fr. Philip Merdinger, the founder of the Brotherhood of Hope, a religious community dedicated to campus ministry. Father preached a retreat for us Daughters of St. Paul, and the gist of his sermon was: “You are not the most important thing in the world. God is.”

Division by ‘ism’

As a child, I was fishing off a wooden dock at the small lake near the town in B.C. where I grew up when a farmer from Saskatchewan and his son appeared  as if out of a dream I didn’t know I was having.

Catholics must never let puns Peter out

I have indulged in a passion for puns throughout my career. Despite feeling gleeful about this on one level, I also remember an army of English literature professors intoning that puns were the lowest form of wit. While there are legions of people who deeply oppose puns on principle, there is an equally vast array of fans that believe in them at all costs.

Readers Speak Out: October 16, 2022

Blocking transparency

I find the Oct. 2 editorial “Rebuild trust” mind boggling.

Editorial: Root of all evil?

Canadian Cardinal Michael Czerny deployed a recent lecture in Chicago to drive home the vital point that “pro-life” commitment does not — must not — be limited to opinion and activism around abortion and euthanasia.