Michael Swan

Catholics must face facts — euthanasia is here and it’s not going away

December 24, 2015

If Catholics are going to have any chance of limiting the damage of legal assisted suicide they’re going to have to get beyond outrage and suggest practical solutions, the lone Catholic representative to the Provincial- Territorial Expert Advisory Group On Physician-Assisted Dying told The Catholic Register.

Toronto family’s door is always open to refugees

December 22, 2015

TORONTO - A 13-hour flight to Toronto was nothing after three years spent living as refugees in Amman, Jordan, as an Armenian Orthodox family from Aleppo, Syria, launched its Canadian odyssey.

Christmas shows Christians our Jewishness

December 18, 2015

Just in time for Christmas, the Vatican is reminding the world just how Jewish the Christian religion really is.

Doctors’ human rights ‘violated’ by proposed new guidelines

December 17, 2015

TORONTO - The human rights of doctors would be “violated” by proposed guidelines that would require Ontario doctors, even against their conscience, to refer patients for assisted suicide, said the executive director of the Christian Medical and Dental Society.

Provincial assisted-dying panel recommends wide access

December 15, 2015

In 43 recommendations aimed at provincial and federal legislators, the Provincial-Territorial Expert Advisory Group on Physician-Assisted Dying has recommended the widest possible access to assisted suicide and very narrow exceptions for Catholic health professionals and Catholic hospitals, nursing homes and hospices.

Mercy and indulgences, love and freedom

December 13, 2015

The daily pilgrimage of every prisoner takes on new meaning this year, thanks to Pope Francis and the Jubilee Year of Mercy that began on the feast of the Immaculate Conception, Dec. 8. From now until the end of November 2016, each time a prisoner walks across the threshold of his jail cell mercy and relief from the pain of sin awaits.

Food bank use continues to rise

December 13, 2015

TORONTO - A renovated four-bedroom house in Riverdale recently sold for $2.1 million. Half of 176 houses sold in the Toronto neighbourhood earlier this year went for more than $716,000. The traffic on the neighbourhood streets is backed up with high-end Mercedes, Lexuses and other exotic brands. Coffee in the neighbourhood will set you back the better part of a $5 bill.

New chapter launched in Catholic-Jewish relations

December 11, 2015

Rabbi Baruch Frydman-Kohl reckons it was the first kosher meal ever served in the 190-year history of Ottawa’s Notre-Dame Cathedral Basilica, though it’s hard to say for sure. But the first meeting of the national Canadian Catholic-Jewish Dialogue certainly marked a new chapter in Christian-Jewish relations in Canada.

First wave of Syrian refugees will land in Canada with Church support

December 10, 2015

Among the first planeload of Syrian refugees to land at Toronto Pearson International Airport around 9 p.m. Dec. 10, at least one family has made it to Canada thanks to Catholic refugee sponsorship.

‘One faith, one destiny, one journey together’

December 10, 2015

TORONTO - The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity will culminate next month with a final liturgy uniting Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant Christians at the Chaldean Cathedral of the Good Shepherd in the northwest corner of Toronto.