The world’s most famous quintuplets, the five Dionne girls, were born May 28, 1934 to poor Catholic parents Oliva and Elzire Dionne on their farm near Corbeil, Ont. They were the first quints to survive infancy and were instant global sensations. Fearing they would be exploited, the Ontario government made the girls wards of the province with special legislation (the Croll Bill). It prompted a fierce debate over parental rights, which played out in the pages of The Register. Later, a fierce custody battle resulted in the girls returning to their parents in 1943 after an early childhood that saw them put on public display in a specially-built hospital and nursery called Quintland. In 1998, three surviving sisters won a $2.8 million settlement from Ontario as a result of their exploitation. In the April 11, 1935 Register, the parents made their case against the Croll Bill in a letter to the editor:
A new, three-year pastoral plan will drive Toronto’s 195 Catholic schools and 91,000 Catholic students to a deeper sense of who they are and what they are meant to be, even as campaigning Ontario politicians promise to tinker with school curricula to gain votes.
There was worldwide disbelief on May 13, 1981 as word spread that Pope John Paul II had been shot four times in an assassination attempt. The gunman was sentenced to life in prison, but was pardoned in 2000 at the request of John Paul. This is The Catholic Register’s report in the wake of the the attempt on the pontiff’s life, from May 23, 1981:
The kids at St. Kateri Tekakwitha Catholic Elementary School in Kitchener, Ont., are breaking down walls with science, or more accurately, one particular wall in the middle of their school gym.
Toronto students team up with suffering youth in Attawapiskat through soccer
By Jean Ko Din, The Catholic Register
To the boys on the senior high school soccer team, it was only natural to reach out to people their age who were suffering in the northern part of the province.
Moccasin project helps create awareness of Indigenous issues
By Jacklyn Gilmor, Catholic Register Special
A small handmade gift can have a big impact.
Michelle Dubre cried with joy when she heard the news.
Twenty-four Catholic high school students and five adult supervisors gathered in Consuelo, Dominican Republic, to debrief our day. We had toured a batay (sugar workers’ village) outside the city along a road that by Canadian standards would be considered impassible.
Bigger is better and if we don’t get better we’re going to get beat, is the message one religious education teacher has brought back from a giant American convention for Catholic teachers.
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A sampling of recent media indicates voices are again ramping up their call for one school system in Ontario or, in short, for the abolishment of Catholic schools.
Stella Johnson is known in the Diocese of Mackenzie-Fort Smith as a ray of sunshine, which is significant when Yellowknife can get as little as four hours of daylight in the middle of winter.
It was an otherwise quiet Wednesday morning when a woman walked into the parish office of St. Joan of Arc in Toronto.
It was 51 years ago, on April 28, that Expo 67 opened in Montreal, ushering in a summer of celebration for Canada’s 100th birthday. The World’s Fair featured pavilions from 60 nations showcasing “Man and His World.” More than 50 million visitors passed through the grounds over six months, including familiar faces like Queen Elizabeth, Jackie Kennedy and Bing Crosby. In this editorial from April 22, 1967, The Catholic Register put the expectations of Expo into perspective: