Michael Swan

Vincentians aid Attawapiskat

May 9, 2012

A house is just a big container. It’s what you put in it that makes it a home. The St. Vincent de Paul Society at St. Kevin’s in Val Therese, Ont., knows the difference. The Vincentians inspired parishioners at St. Kevin’s and their fellow Vincentians around the province to contribute $24,000 to help furnish pre-fab houses going to the native community of Attawapiskat, Ont.

D&P appeals for aid for West Africa as famine takes hold

May 8, 2012

As famine grips West Africa the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace is calling for donations so it can help its partners in the region distribute emergency food supplies and organize communities to prevent further deaths. “This crisis has the potential to spiral into a major humanitarian catastrophe if we don’t act now,” said Development and Peace executive director Michael Casey.

Freedom 90 union demands food banks be wiped out

May 8, 2012

TORONTO - There’s only one union in Ontario demanding layoffs, willing to accept a wage freeze and hoping to be declared obsolete. The brand-new Freedom 90 Union of Food Bank and Emergency Meal Program Volunteers launched its demands at a downtown Toronto church May 7. The Freedom 90 group of middle-aged and elderly veteran volunteers of Ontario’s food banks are asking Ontario’s government to “make Ontario’s food banks obsolete — before we volunteers reach the age of 90.”

A life lived well deserves to end well

May 6, 2012

TORONTO - Nobody has a PhD in dying. There are no courses to teach us how to die well. But we all want a good death. It’s getting harder to die well. We live in a world where death happens somewhere else to somebody we don’t know who is surrounded by machinery. Few of us have been present at a death bed in our own homes. Medicine often makes it even harder.

Nature of Chen's dissent stems from opposition to forced abortion

May 4, 2012

TORONTO - As Chinese and U.S. diplomats sought a resolution to the diplomatic crisis surrounding Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng, many Chinese-Americans turned their attention to the nature of Chen's dissent. Without challenging any fundamental tenet of China's constitution or its 1949 revolution, Chen has focused attention to the country's forced abortion and sterilization practices, leading to a crackdown by the government on his movement and prohibitions on contact with foreigners and the media.

Petty politics of Vatileaks embarrasses Vatican

May 4, 2012

At first it seemed only Italians could possibly care about petty office politics in the Vatican. But three months into the Vatileaks scandal, non-Italians are beginning to wonder. The Vatican raised eyebrows when in late April Pope Benedict XVI established a three-cardinal commission to investigate a series of leaks of letters exchanged among Vatican officials and between these officials and the Pope himself.

Africa's fortune lies in its future according to visiting Jesuit

May 3, 2012

TORONTO - Africans still want the kind of genuine partnership with Canadians the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace has fostered over the last four decades, the provincial superior of the Jesuits in Eastern Africa said — even if CIDA has cancelled funding to every D&P partner in Africa outside of the Democratic Republic of Congo. "It matters," Fr. Agbonkhianmeghe Orobator told The Catholic Register. "It's not only about Canadians giving to Africa. There's an element of mutuality there. It's not just about the money. It is important to keep that contact."

Shareholder motion against Goldcorp fails

May 2, 2012

An American community of Loretto Sisters and its allies lost a shareholder vote in South Porcupine, Ont., that would have forced Goldcorp Inc. to set aside almost $50 million to pay for post-mining clean-up at a major gold mine in Guatemala. Management at the Canadian mining giant had opposed the Loretto Sisters’ motion at the company’s Annual General Meeting April 26. The motion asked Goldcorp to revise its mine closure plans in San Marcos, Guatemala, in light of an independent study which pegged mine closure costs at $49 million.

Jesuits ready for Contact

May 2, 2012

TORONTO - Jesuits are taught to see God in all things. This makes Jesuit photography a little more intense than family snapshots. This year four Canadian Jesuits will show their photographs as part of the 17th annual Contact festival. With more than 1,000 venues spread around Toronto and as many as 1.8 million sets of eyeballs taking in the work of an international lineup of photographers through the month of May, Contact is the largest photography event in the world.

Human rights conflict resolution policy launched

May 1, 2012

TORONTO - When religion bumps up against somebody's human rights, the best safeguard of religious freedom is reasoned, calm and respectful dialogue, said Ontario Human Rights Commissioner Barbara Hall said. More than two years of consultations with religious and other groups has produced a new OHRC position on how to decide cases where the rights of one party conflict with the equally recognized rights of another. The commission's 65-page "Policy on Competing Human Rights" is aimed at encouraging employers, institutions and other groups to resolve conflicts before they wind up in a tribunal hearing or a court room.