In Catholic tradition, November is both the last month of the faith year, and the month where we remember and celebrate all souls. We write in a book of remembrance the names of loved ones lost and light candles for them. We pray for and with those who have gone to eternity before us. The practices remind me of Ash Wednesday: “Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return.”

Does liberalism get the big questions right? The question was the subject of a Munk Debate on the evening of Nov. 3 in Toronto.

My short answer is yes. Better put, it gets more things right than competing philosophies. Capitalism, it has been said, is the worst economic system except for all the others. Liberalism is a better solution for our common lives than socialism or communism. Yet at the end of the night, the winning side of the debate were those who were opposed. How have we arrived at a point where so many appear to be questioning liberalism?

As Catholics, as people of faith, as pilgrims seeking peace, Catholics for Justice and Peace in the Holy Land is appalled by the editorial The Catholic Register printed on Oct. 19. 

The Catholic Register’s Oct. 29 editorial continues the paper’s uncomfortable lurch to the right.

Justin Trudeau spoke with clarity and prime ministerial authority to shocking recent violence in Montreal and to the swelling tide of anti-Semitism across Canada whipped up by the Hamas barbarism of Oct. 7.

The full text of the October Declaration published by leading British citizens and signed by 76,055 others to date.

In the Oct. 15 issue, Glen Argan laments the drop in priestly vocations in Canada (“Still waiting for Vatican II to bear fruit”). He believes that if the laity follow their call to be the light of the world, more vocations will be forthcoming. Vocations to the priesthood often began with the experience of altar boys. The tendency to downplay the importance of altar servers discourages vocations.

I am very disappointed in the articles in The Catholic Register on current wars. This is a religious publication purportedly supporting the thoughts of Pope Francis. Let it do so. Let us have more news about the works of our Pope and his ambassadors to Ukraine, Russia, Israel and Palestine. We do not need the chest thumping and righteous anger spewed out in the current publication. Do I have to look in The Toronto Star for news of the great works of our Pope? Should I not hear such news amidst calming, peace-calling solutions from your newspaper?

Yes, I believe you have to "Tell it like it really is." How did we get to this dreadful place in world history? Can we as Catholics do more to spread the light of Christ and His peace? Why were these young Hamas terrorists taught such hate and utter disrespect for Israelis? As Remembrance Day approaches we think of our relatives who served. How many lives are being lost in senseless wars? Wars will not solve the conflicts affecting so many countries. There must be a better way of solving our many disputes in the world.

Misericordia! I feel this word as a deep cry from my soul in response to these troubled times of unspeakable horror.

Pope Francis in addressing the National Confederation of the ‘Misericordie’ of Italy said, “This word misericordia — mercy — is a Latin word whose etymological meaning is ‘miseris cor dare,’ to ‘give the heart to the wretched,’ those in need, those who are suffering.”