Corner store booze sales sacrifice common good

Coming to an Ontario corner store near you: beer, wine, cocktails and other low-alcohol beverages, in whatever pack size you want. These libations will also be available in grocery stores, big-box locations  and some gas stations.

God gives us angels to guide our lives

Angels are in the spotlight during Advent and Christmas. There is Gabriel’s appearance to Mary, the angels who came to Joseph in three separate dreams, the multitude of angels who appear to the shepherds and the angel’s warning for the wise men to avoid Herod. Then there is the plethora of angels who decorate our Christmas festivities, both secular and religious.

Is the Church/theology too masculine?

In a recent meeting in Rome with the International Theological Commission, Pope Francis spoke in an impromptu fashion, stating that “one of the great sins we have witnessed is ‘masculinizing’ of the Church... The Church is woman, and if we cannot understand what a woman is… we will never understand the Church... This is the job I ask of you, please: demasculinize the Church.”

Cardinal’s suffering and heroism went hand in hand

When Pope Francis in 2019 declared the late Hungarian Cardinal József Mindszenty venerable, a step on the path to recognized sainthood, it marked long overdue recognition of the near-forgotten 20th-century shepherd’s Christian virtue. Earlier this year, Ignatius Press republished the Cardinal’s out-of-print Memoirs. This would be a worthy addition to reading lists over the holidays or in the coming new year.

Risky business

Pope Benedict XVI resigned the papacy in a state of nervous exhaustion. Cardinal Pell died during routine surgery after imprisonment for a crime he did not commit. Cardinal Zen is languishing in a prison in Communist China. Bishop Strickland was stripped of his governance of Tyler, Texas.

Editorial: Marriage in the balance

The Vatican’s surprise — some might say bombshell — declaration that “irregular” domestic partnerships can be blessed by Catholic clergy will be welcomed like a Christmas gift by advocates and beneficiaries.

Verbatim: Statement on the persecution of Christians from the CCCB

A statement on the persecution of Christians from the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops Episcopal Commission for Justice and Peace.

  • December 21, 2023

May carolling carry us through the year

It’s Advent — that special time of year when sleighbells ring, chestnuts roast and Christians of different persuasions argue about when to begin celebrating Christmas. Many Catholics adhere to the idea that one ought not decorate or sing Christmas carols before the Christmas liturgical season begins on Dec. 24. There’s only one problem with this: it presumes we ever stopped.

Having the hope to approach our longing

I have been sitting in my living room in the dark evenings lit up by the Christmas tree. I am fumbling with a fiddle, coaxing my fingers to play the notes of folk tunes and Christmas carols. This fall, the world seems particularly weary, beauty weighted with a complicated mix of war and worries. And I sing quietly along in my head one of my favourite lines: “A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices.”

Unpacking baggage of social justice

Learn to do good; seek justice.

Isaiah: 1: 17

I am not a social justice scholar. Nor am I an expert in the field of health care. I was invited recently, however, to be part of a forum on Catholic health care to define the concept of social justice, especially as it emerges within the Catholic intellectual tradition and Catholic social teaching. This tradition, not surprisingly, heavily informs the values and practices that we see manifested in the health care system.

Rosica and millions

Based on his letter criticizing The Catholic Register article about Fr. Tom Rosica, which was welcomed by so many, it is obvious Lou Iacobelli is not open to listening to views discussed at the Synod, that is views other than his own.