When is a vote an act of love? This is an important question for Ontario Catholics voting on June 2, called by Christ to “love one another as I have loved you” (John 15:12) .

Listening is often referred to as an art. Reams of books have been dedicated to defining “how” to listen, and even define “types” — deep listening, full listening, critical listening, therapeutic listening etc.

Non-contentious

On May 18, the publisher of The Catholic Register, Peter Stockland, was going to moderate a debate, organized by the Archdiocese of Toronto, intended to help Catholic voters with their choice in the Ontario provincial election. To prepare considered answers, candidates would have received the questions in advance.

The World Health Organization released in March data showing an astounding 25-per-cent global increase in mental health disorders such as anxiety and depression correlated with the COVID-19 pandemic.

In mid-December, my doctor confirmed I had cancer. I was told I’d require surgery. Major surgery! ASAP! Not the sort of thing one wants to hear just before Christmas. Not with a pandemic raging. In the weeks that followed I underwent umpteen tests to determine how and when the Beast would be tackled. 

The apparent defeat of Roe v. Wade in the United States Supreme Court has unleashed a wave of optimism for pro-life activists. It is a battle that’s been waged for nearly half a century in the U.S. and so for its opponents this is a sparkling moment.

Trust wasn’t the lesson I was expecting when my partner planned a surprise anniversary weekend away. Seventeen years later, we returned to the Cypress Hills where we stayed as newlyweds. The lodgepole pines appear not to have changed as much as we have.

Surely no Canadian is so naïve as to believe that Pope Francis’ six-day July visit will miraculously heal nearly 400 years of fraught, often deeply unjust relations, with Indigenous people.

Wrong way

The war in Ukraine is horrific and, from my personal observations, the Pope is trying to do everything within his influence to stop it. I was therefore surprised and saddened that The Catholic Register printed an article in which the writer constantly calls the Pope “wrong” in his actions towards Ukraine. 

A letter writer in the May 12 Globe and Mail asked on behalf of her 14-year-old granddaughter, “Are the people who oppose the right to choose an abortion the same people who protest vaccine and mask mandates?” Grandma declared that yes indeed, they are the same folks.