Susan Korah

A society purged of religious belief and practice was the Utopia envisioned by “New Ageists” like Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins, but this era of peace, love, harmony and understanding has not materialized, New York Times columnist Ross Douthat told a Nov. 20 audience of 600 at Ottawa’s National Arts Centre.

The Light in the East benefit gala held in Ottawa on November 7 celebrated the 20th anniversary of the founding of the Canadian wing of the Catholic Near East Welfare Association (CNEWA) pontifical charity.

Trocaire (pronounced “throwkara”) is an Irish word for compassion. It is also the name of the Irish wing of Caritas International, the global Catholic charity, and a partner organization to Development and Peace-Caritas Canada (D&P).

CNEWA Canada is preparing a special celebration to mark the 20th anniversary of the humanitarian organization’s inception in Canada.

In a world marked by instability, political polarization, violence and economic hardship, religious persecution is on the rise in scale and intensity, and Canada is not immune, says the latest report from the pontifical charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN).

Christianity, for centuries the bedrock of national identity and arbiter of moral values in Western nations, including Canada and the UK, is now increasingly marginalized by the 21st-century interpretation of pluralism as a political ideology.

Nearly two years after Azerbaijan’s military assault on the Armenian enclave known to the world as Nagorno Karabakh (Artsakh to Armenians), many of the displaced are still yearning for a return to their beloved homeland.

The horrific attack on a Syrian church that claimed the lives of more than 25 and injured more than 60 others should raise a red flag on the internal situation in Syria, say activists close to victims of the tragedy.

Bill C-5, passed on the final day of the House of Commons’ first sitting under Prime Minister Mark Carney, has drawn mixed reaction from First Nations leaders, some who argue vehemently against it, and others who take a more sanguine view, saying it would benefit their communities in the long term.

From being kidnapped and held hostage by Islamic terrorists, miraculously liberated and now ministering to a dwindling Christian community in Syria, Archbishop Jacques Mourad exemplifies the suffering and resilience of his people during the darkest days of a brutal civil war and the reign of terror by ISIS.