Church attendance is waning and religious non-affiliation is waxing. That’s hardly news. Observe the empty pews.

Doing a late night check around the ward, I found one of the patients, an elderly woman, crying softly into her pillow.   “What’s the matter, Mrs. Grey?” I asked. “Why are you crying?”

For many of us of a certain age, “Who Are You?” by the Who is a seminal song, made popular again as the theme music to the TV show CSI. 

It’s been called a “national health crisis” and a “public emergency.” It’s a major issue in next month’s federal election.

Vote for integrity

Canadians are intelligent people. They are highly educated. 

Unlike a year ago, when it signalled all aboard for marijuana, Ottawa needs to derail the toxic and addictive practice of vaping before it becomes a runaway train.

In this federal election, part of me feels like a bystander. If you are like me, an orthodox Christian, someone whose faith is not confined to Sundays, you may feel the same.

On July 7, 2018, in Bari, Italy, at an important ecumenical gathering of all Christian leaders from the Middle East, Pope Francis made a jarring reference to a Middle East without Christians. 

Some questions for the average Catholic in the pews: Do you know what the Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development is? How about the Episcopal Commission for Justice and Peace of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops? Have you ever heard of the Social Affairs Commission of the Assembly of Catholic Bishops of Ontario?

In some respects, the Oct. 21 federal election will be a referendum on tolerance.