Four Teresas: models for our time

For centuries there was only one Teresa, the Carmelite reformer who was canonized on March 12, 1622, in the single most impressive canonization in the history of the Church. Gregory XV crowned the Catholic Counter-Reformation that day, canonizing in one ceremony the great Teresa of Avila, along with St. Francis Xavier, St. Philip Neri and St. Ignatius Loyola.

Diverse, diligent panel gets female deacons talks off on right foot

The swiftness of Pope Francis setting up a Vatican panel to study the question of women deacons clearly indicates His Holiness wants resolution to the prickly issue.

There’s no gay conspiracy: we are all neighbours

The world abounds in conspiracy theories. It was always thus.

Mission begins beyond the couch

KRAKÓW, POLAND – The most impressive moment of World Youth Day had to be at the Saturday evening vigil, with Pope Francis leading more than a million young people in praying the Divine Mercy chaplet before the Blessed Sacrament. Not only was it a powerful witness of prayer, invoking mercy upon the Church and the world, but a confirmation of the marvellous ways of Providence.

America is reaping what it has sown

Earlier this month, we were driving to Minnesota to visit relatives on the night a black man was shot dead by police in a St. Paul suburb after being stopped for a broken tail light. That was a day after another black man was killed by police in Baton Rouge.

In dark days, put prayer into action

In the midst of all the bad news over the past month, especially the legalization of euthanasia, it is easy to forget there is a world of the spirit and prayer that rises above the grime and connects us to our true home where truth shines bright.

Benedict XVI offers much encouragement to priests

It’s become something of a routine now. Pope Francis delivers a spontaneous lambasting of priests who do this or that which he disapproves of, and priests get in touch to ask what we should make of it all.

Autonomy’s open road

Autonomy has evolved into a word of frightful power. Its meaning now goes beyond such independent actions as choosing a spouse, following a career path or adopting a style of fashion. It surpasses political views and for many has become a one-word mantra for a new religion called secularism, in which God is replaced by putting “me” at the centre of the universe. 

Palliative care missing in end-of-life debate

In the government’s rush to push Bill C-14, the medically assisted dying legislation, through the House of Commons, Canadians have been left very much on the sidelines. 

Time to rethink role of women in Church

Does anybody today believe men are intellectually superior to women because of their gender? The question is not about the intelligence of an individual man or woman, but collectively. Simply put: if you have the Y chromosome does it make you smarter?

Giving back fully

The question, Rabbi Kliel Rose says, is not whether to help. It is not even how to help in the most efficient way. It is how to help in the fullest way.