Michael Swan

Nostra Aetate opened Catholics to the world

October 25, 2015

In or out? Us or them? Where do we draw the line? Should we draw the line? Once a line is drawn, how do we look beyond our borders?

Saint Paul program takes business to the margins

October 24, 2015

Last year Pope Francis told writers Andrea Tornielli and Giacomo Galeazzi, “This economy kills.” This year Ottawa’s Saint Paul University is launching a practical program in techniques for building a different kind of economy.

Bioethics institute opens new branch at Windsor’s Assumption University

October 23, 2015

As Windsor’s Assumption University continues along its path to rebirth, it now has a foothold in bioethics.

A look inside the Synod hall

October 21, 2015

Inside the Synod hall, things look very different from media reports about conservatives debating liberals over communion for divorced and remarried Catholics, said theologian and Synod auditor Moira McQueen.

Women’s role: how far should Church go?

October 18, 2015

When Archbishop Paul-André Durocher raised the question of ordaining female deacons during the first full day of the Synod on Family, he stepped into one of the most contentious and complex struggles in the Church — full participation of women in all aspects of their faith life, their Church.

Synod’s bishops are in for a long process

October 15, 2015

For Fr. Gilles Routhier, one of the world’s leading historians of the Second Vatican Council, watching the Synod unfold in Rome is more exciting than any Game 7 in any sport you care to name.

Good News drenched in Precious Blood

October 10, 2015

If you’re going to preach in the modern world you need powerful language. The Missionaries of the Precious Blood have had that power incorporated into their very name for the last 200 years. From “blood brothers” to “Bloody Sunday,” “the blood of the Lamb” to “blood libel,” the 600 priests and brothers who call themselves Precious Bloods have the most arresting imagery in the entire story of human salvation as their calling card.

This Synod is about the Holy Spirit

October 9, 2015

The Synod on the Family is not about communion for divorced and remarried Catholics, or how to reach out to gay Catholics, or even celibacy of priests. It’s about the Holy Spirit, Pope Francis reminded 318 delegates as they began closed door discussions on family issues.

Synod fathers can learn from familial bond

October 3, 2015

MISSISSAUGA, ONT. - The Church must rediscover its role in helping and supporting families at this fall’s Synod on the Family, one of the leading Asian cardinals told The Catholic Register.

The political Pope Francis can’t help but make it personal

October 1, 2015

PHILADELPHIA - In the 1970s feminist writers had a slogan they wanted to share with the world: “The personal is political.”