Michael Swan

New refugee rules will tear families apart

June 26, 2014

On the eve of the annual June 20 World Refugee Day, Citizenship and Immigration Canada quietly announced changes to immigration rules that refugee sponsors say will tear apart refugee families who hope to restart their lives in Canada.

Order of Malta hospital central to Bethlehem’s faith community

June 22, 2014

BETHLEHEM - Hospitals are mostly in the habit of receiving patients. In Bethlehem, Holy Family Hospital also receives pilgrims.

Complex issue is surely headed to the courts

June 22, 2014

The legal battle over Quebec’s new “end-of-life care” law isn’t going to be a slam dunk for either side given the complexity of issues the courts will have to consider, says Catholic Civil Rights League president Phil Horgan.

Canadians want better palliative care

June 22, 2014

Pressure is building on the federal government to get busy on a national palliative care strategy.

Some fear what religion is doing to Middle East

June 19, 2014

I met a man in Bethlehem who has dedicated his life to compassion, justice, enlightenment and hope. He respects God and tradition and loves the poorest and the weakest among human beings. And he refuses to go to Church.

Holy Land Christians: The next generation

June 15, 2014

BETHLEHEM - Regina Mousalam is adamant that Palestinians are not leaving and will not leave the country of their birth, the land of their ancestry and the culture that is their pride. Bethlehem, Beit Jala, Beit Sahour and other Christian Palestinian towns and villages were built around their churches. The homes Palestinian Christians live in, the streets they walk and the extended families surrounding them keep Palestinians wedded to this hard, dry land.

Last Christians standing

June 15, 2014

TAYBEH, ISRAEL - Christians in Taybeh know they are special — unique in fact. Taybeh is the last fully and completely Christian village in the Middle East.

Catholic institutions give aid, comfort to Palestine

June 15, 2014

BETHLEHEM - Bethlehem’s Christians and Muslims know where to turn for help. If they fall ill, there’s Holy Family Hospital sponsored by the Knights of Malta. An abandoned child or a battered woman will find care at La Creche, sponsored by the Sisters of Charity. The best schools include the Frere School, sponsored by the De La Salle Brothers, the Rosary Sisters School, the Terra Sancta Girls High School, sponsored by the Sisters of St. Joseph, and the Salesian Boys Industrial High School. For university the choice is Palestine’s first university, the De La Salle Brothers’ Bethlehem University.

Christians ‘drowning in a sea of Muslims’

June 15, 2014

BETHLEHEM - The Vatican has been increasingly concerned about the possibility the Middle East will become a kind of Disneyland for Christians, full of interesting Christian history, architecture and archeology that will attract tourists, but virtually empty of Christians.

Older generations fear youth will give up on Palestine

June 15, 2014

BETHLEHEM - Like elders of every society and every era, Nora Kort worries about a future she will not see.