Laughter is God’s medicine for the world

As a humourist I have often asked myself if my lighter reflections were appropriate in a time of such deep division and grief. As a columnist for over 10 years, there have been times when I have wondered if I should change tack, focus on darker or more politically edgy work, addressing the catastrophes of our times. It is surely fair to ask if one’s lightness, at a time of dark, is fitting or even welcomed. Truth be told, I continue to be torn. Humour, I know, has had a role to play in every context since the beginning of time, as a mediating influence, a salve or as a weapon to address contentious topics.

Moving onward means accepting human limits

In his beautiful Apostolic Exhortation, “The Joy of the Gospel,” Pope Francis reminds us that as pastoral people we have to accept tension between fullness and limitation, and not be concerned with immediate results.

False guilt

Anna Farrow rightly points in her Jan. 21 story “Media buy-in drove graves social panic” to the preface of Chris Champion and Tom Flanagan’s book Grave Error. Champion and Flanagan stress that while contributors to the book do not speak with a unanimous voice, all authors in this collection agree on the main point: that no persuasive evidence has yet been offered by anyone for the existence of unmarked graves, missing children, murder or genocide in residential schools.

Editorial: Catholics beware

Jordan Peterson put a target on his own back several years ago by speaking clearly and simply against mandated use of “gendered” pronouns and proper names. More recently, his critics have mocked him mercilessly as a cartoonish poster boy for the conservative “anger-tainment” industry.

Verbatim: Sr. Nancy Brown on combating human trafficking

Sr. Nancy Brown, of the Archdiocese of Vancouver’s Anti-Human Trafficking Committee, says the Feb. 8 Feast Day of St. Josephine Bakhita should focus attention to combat the scourge.

  • January 25, 2024

Living liturgically means living differently

In an article published in the National Post on Dec. 29, columnist Joseph Brean queried the meaning of the week between Christmas Day and New Year’s. It was a curious piece. Brean asked what the week is all about concluding that it is “this least wonderful time of the year (that) is either an under-appreciated winter interlude of nothingness, or a bland calendrical purgatory of suspended animation.”

We’ll always give when asked for more

On the evening of Saturday, Jan. 13, the Alberta Emergency Management Agency sent a province-wide alert on people’s cellphones stating that the province’s electrical grid was at high risk of having to implement rotating power outages. The day had been bitterly cold across Canada, including Alberta where all-time low temperatures were recorded.

'Fiducia supplicans' a blessing for the Church

Fiducia supplicans is exactly the document that was needed to address the confusion and error circulating among both the heretical progressive clergy who are seeking to legitimize and affirm same-sex unions and the radical conservatives who are unable to recognize the significant and relevant nuance that the issue naturally includes.

Stop MAiD expansion in its tracks

The timeframe to extend medical assistance in dying (MAiD) to those living with a mental illness is fast approaching. From March 17 onward, people whose sole condition is a mental illness are expected to be eligible to end their suffering through MAID.

Editorial: On the side of real justice

It’s hardly The Catholic Register’s place to editorially sermonize our separated fellow Christians in the United Church about their theology.

Verbatim: Pope Francis' message for the World Day of the Sick

Pope Francis’ message for the World Day of the Sick to be marked on Feb. 11, 2024.

  • January 18, 2024